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The leader of Italy's right-wing National Guard, Gaetano Saya, salutes after their proposal - the creation of unarmed citizen patrols - was approved - Source: Reuters -
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Tough new measures to fight illegal immigration and crime became
law in Italy after the Senate gave the green light to a bill
contested by the centre-left opposition and the Catholic
Church.
The law makes illegal immigration a crime punishable with a fine of
up to 10,000 euros ($US14,000) and raises to six months the amount
of time that illegal migrants can be detained in holding centres
before repatriation.
It also allows the creation of unarmed citizen patrols to help
police and soldiers fight crime on the streets, makes it a jail
offence to force children to beg, a measure viewed as targeting
gypsies and Roma people.
The law was put forward by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, a
member of the anti-immigrant Northern League which is a crucial
ally for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative
government, elected last year on a law-and-order ticket.
"We want to tell citizens that the government is acting to
guarantee their security," he said on Thursday, after the
government won three confidence votes on the bill.
In a heated debate at the Senate, centre-left lawmakers accused the
government of violating the rights of immigrants and said the
citizen patrols risked becoming vigilante groups taking the law
into their hands.
The Catholic Church has also repeatedly criticised the measures,
which civil rights groups say could deter illegal immigrants from
seeking hospital treatment or enrolling their children in school
for fear of being reported to police.
