Tunisia has accused Rome of infringing on its sovereignty after an Italian minister suggested sending police to the north African country to stem the tide of illegal migrants trying to reach Italy. More than 4,000 migrants have crossed the sea from Tunisia to the small Italian island of Lampedusa in the past week, underscoring the lingering instability in Tunisia since protests ousted its president a month ago.
Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, expressed support for Tunisia's caretaker administration after talks in Tunis, and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was scheduled to arrive later in the day.
Tunisian protesters unseated authoritarian ruler Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power, in an uprising that served as an inspiration for the revolt in Egypt, which on Friday forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign. Since Ben Ali's departure Tunisia's interim government has been making faltering steps towards stability. But police in many places have melted away, and strikes and protests around the country are disrupting the economy.
Speaking on Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League, said the turmoil in Tunisia had triggered a "biblical exodus" to the Sicilian island. "I will ask the Tunisian foreign minister for authorisation so an Italian contingent can intervene to block the influx. The Tunisian system is collapsing," Maroni said on Italian television.
The Tunisian foreign ministry responded by saying it was prepared to work with Italy and other partners to find an appropriate solution to the problem of migrants. But it said in a statement reported by the official media that it was surprised by Maroni's comments and that it "categorically rejects any interference in its internal affairs or any infringement of its sovereignty".
In Lampedusa, local officials say the tide of migrant arrivals is overwhelming the island, which lies closer to Africa than mainland Italy. Most of the Tunisians have arrived in rickety and overcrowded boats and about 1,400 landed on Sunday alone. A holding centre that had been shut was reopened, and some migrants were put up in hotels. Italy has appealed to the European Union for help.
"It is something similar to Albania, the old Albania situation," said Mario Marazzitti, a spokesman for the Sant'Egidio charity assisting the migrants, referring to the influx of Albanian immigrants to Italy in the 1990s. "Many come for hope, some probably escaped because they have real problems and they do not know what the situation will be ... I don't think this is something that is going to stop immediately." Italy's national security commission was due to meet later on Monday to discuss the issue.
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