Publication

From the beginning of the wave of political turmoil in North African countries and up to 8 April 2011, 390 boats have arrived in Italy with a total of 25,867 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, most of them Tunisians. The Italian government’s answer has been framed by both domestic political issues, such as the extreme anti-migrant attitude of the Lega Nord, and by international constraints, such as the refusal of other EU members to receive irregular economic migrants and the difficulty in establishing a workable repatriation accord with Tunisia. Given the situation, the Italian government has been trapped in its own web, made up of contradictory positions and exaggerated forecasts concerning migratory flows.