Italy and Tunisia have signed an agreement that will see Tunisians currently staying at the overcrowded migrant centre on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa repatriated within two months, the interior ministry said Wednesday.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and his Tunisian counterpart Rafik Belhak Kacem signed the agreement in Tunis on Tuesday amid mounting pressure from Lampedusa islanders and humanitarian agencies to relieve the overcrowding.
The agreement reinforces repatriation accords signed in 1998 and 2003 between Italy and Tunisia, simplifying the process for Tunisian illegal immigrants to be sent home from Italian identification and expulsion centres (CIE).
It also foresees increased cooperation in the fight against human slavery and criminal organisations who exploit illegal immigration, the interior ministry said.
Tunisians who have been identified in Lampedusa's migrant centre - around 500 - will be repatriated ''gradually'' within two months ''at the most'' under the accord.
Officials estimate there are currently 1,000 Tunisians at the centre, but the identification process has yet to be completed for half of them.
Lampedusa's 850-bed migrant centre has been on the brink of collapse since Maroni's December pledge to keep all illegal immigrants who arrive on the island at the centre until they can be repatriated.
Last week the number of migrants at the centre reached 1,800.
Asylum seekers are exempt from Maroni's repatriation policy.
