Italy swamped with 5000 Tunisian immigrants last week. Italy says Europe at risk, asks for $100m Euros

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2/15/11, "Tunisia migrants: Italy puts Europe on alert," BBC

"Italy has warned that an influx of Tunisian migrants arriving on its shores could have devastating consequences for all European nations.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said migrants who have landed on the island of Lampedusa threaten the

• institutional and social structures of Europe.

Italy is asking the EU for about 100m euros (£84m) to tackle the influx.

In another development, a boat was intercepted off Sicily carrying about 30 people

• believed to be from Egypt....

More than 5,000 immigrants have reached Lampedusa - south of Sicily -

• by boat in the past week.

The upsurge follows last month's mass protests over unemployment and poverty in Tunisia which resulted in

• the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali."...

map from BBC
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