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"Shoot asylum
seekers"
"I want to hear the sound of
the cannons by the end of the week"
 |
"Without too much talking. A cannon to knock out whoever may be there. Otherwise we’re never going to put an end to this problem." |
|
"Cannon Shots to Stop Illegal Immigrants" A SENIOR Italian minister has urged navy and coastguard vessels to open fire on boats bringing asylum seekers to his country’s shores. Umberto Bossi, reforms minister in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative coalition, told one of Italy’s leading newspapers that he wanted to hear "the blast of cannons". Outrage greeted Bossi’s comments, which have caused severe embarrassment to Berlusconi. "After the second or third warning, bang... we fire the cannon," Corriere della Sera quoted Bossi, who is known for making extremist remarks calculated to shock. "Without too much talking. A cannon to knock out whoever may be there. Otherwise we’re never going to put an end to this problem." Asked whether it would be right to fire on unarmed women and children, Bossi was unequivocal. "Whether they’re good or bad, one way or the other illegal immigrants have got to be chased away. The navy and coastguard should defend our shores and use their cannons to do it." ... Bossi made his remarks in the wake of a recent surge in asylum seekers. ... Bossi, who heads the Right-wing Northern League party, has threatened to pull out of the coalition over the asylum seekers issue. At the weekend, a senior member of his party called for the interior minister to resign. Bossi backed away from that call, but said he was getting "to the end of his tether" and wanted action soon. "Whether the government’s allies agree or not, I want to hear the sound of the cannons by the end of the week or I’m off," he said. ... His ministry issued a statement saying his views had not been accurately portrayed. It said: "The content of the interview published this morning by Corriere della Sera, headlined Cannon Shots to Stop Illegal Immigrants, does by no means reflect my thoughts, nor the meaning of my replies in what has been only a quick exchange of just two remarks." Daily Mail, London, June 17, 2003, page 30 |
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| 600 migrants
arrive every day
SIX hundred immigrants arrive in Britain every working day, official figures revealed yesterday. This does not include those entering the country illegally - or asylum seekers who go "underground" when their claims are rejected. The Office for National Statistics confirmed that in 2001, 171,800 more people came into the country than left. ... Even so, it includes only those who came to Britain admitting they planned to stay longer than a year. Asylum seekers whose claims were successful have been counted, but not the estimated 300,000 rejected claimants who have stayed here illegally in the last five years. "Shoot asylum
seekers" - Page 30 |
