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Italy is at breaking point, with 181,000 migrants travelling to the country, mostly by boat, in the last year.

And the government in Rome estimated the nation could only take a total of 200,000.

The countrys answer to the crisis is the Minniti-Orlando decree, which will see several detention centres built at a cost of 13 million to the taxpayer, which will act as depot for migrants returning to their homeland.

But 50 refugees took to the streets in Piazza Nettuno in Bologna to demonstrate against the walls of policy and expulsions.

ANSA

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The migrants were keen to shatter the notion that they simply scrounge off the state and came to Italy for an easy ride.

One refugee said: We are accused of living in hotels paid with the money of Italian people, but in fact we waited in silence in reception centres.

The new decree, which could fast-track deportation for potentially thousands of migrants, has left the African cohort feeling despondent.

One protester said: None of us believes in the promise of asylum and hospitality.

If we still stay here silently then we will never have the permission needed to live and move freely in Italy and Europe.

The Italian government has also set aside funds for the management of the new proposed deportation centres, which will cost 3.8million in 2017, 12.4million in 2018 and 18.2million in 2019.

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A further 19.1million has also been allocated for 2017 alone to ensure the speedy exit of illegal immigrants, which the government said would be made in consideration of the exceptional influx of foreign citizens from North Africa.

These funds will be taken from the Fami-Fund Kindergarten program, migration and integration co-financed by the European Union.

European law dictates Italy must set up migrant centres, called hotspots, where officials can distinguish between those who merely claim to have fled persecution and those who actually have.

Continued here:
'We waited in silence' Migrants protest against deportation centres set up across Italy - Express.co.uk

The bodies of at least 74 African migrants were found washed ashore along Libyas coast, according to the Libyan Red Crescent.

The incident occurred near Zawiya, a city close to Tripoli along Libyas northern coast. A representative of the Libyan Red Crescent says that after finding the remnants of a torn rubber boat, he expects more bodies to turn up over the coming days.

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Travis Allen is a former US Army Infantry Officer. While a Platoon Leader in Afghanistan, he was part of a joint Special Forces/Infantry team conducting Village Stability Operations in Kandahar Province. Travis graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 2010. In his other life, he brews beer and is a regular contributor to the Duffel Blog - The American Military's Finest News Source.

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Migrant crisis continues as 74 Africans found dead along Libyan coast - SOFREP (press release) (subscription)

When it comes to the treatment of immigrants and refugees, its easy for Canadians to look south and feel smug. Immigration, always a hot-button issue for Americans, is now driving them completely around the bend.

Canadas immigration system really is better than the American system, morally and practically. But thats not because Canadians are better people than Americans, morally and practically. Its because our immigration policies have been smarter than those of our neighbours. And our policies have been able to be smarter because our geography has been luckier.

That may be changing. Consider the sudden surge in the number of people walking north across the Canada-United States border to make asylum claims, fleeing Donald Trump and America. If the U.S., historys most powerful people magnet, suddenly turns into an exporter of human beings, Canada is their logical destination. If the trickle of a few hundred grows into the tens of thousands a real possibility our smugness may be tested.

Asylum seekers' cold crossings to Canada: A guide to the saga so far

Globe editorial: Is Canada ready for Donald Trump's refugee crisis?

Campbell Clark: A solution to Canada's refugee surge is no easy feat

Until now, Canada has never worried much about large numbers of people just showing up and claiming asylum, or becoming illegal immigrants. Why not? Because of geography. For most of the planet, Canada is just about the hardest place on earth to get to.

But for someone already in the U.S., Canada is an absurdly easy destination. Spend a few minutes on Google Maps. (Its what anyone thinking of running from Trumpland is doing). At a thousand points along the worlds longest undefended border, an unauthorized journey to Canada is as simple as taking a taxi to the line, and then walking across a field or stepping across a road.

Unlike our American and European peers, our country has not, until now, had to deal with waves of unauthorized arrivals. As a result, our immigration flows unlike those of the United States are exceptionally orderly and law-abiding. Thats probably why Canadas legal immigration rate has for decades been two to three times higher than the United States, while sustaining an all-party, pro-immigration consensus. Canadas immigration system is more generous than the U.S., but in many ways, its also tougher.

Canadas immigrants and refugees are almost all chosen by Canada. They didnt set foot on Canadian soil until we invited them to. Most were chosen because of their education, work experience or professional qualifications; they are more educated than the average Canadian. And before they were allowed to enter Canada, they were investigated for criminal records, ties to terrorism and the like. Oh, and everyone had to queue up, sometimes for years. (Talk about screening for Canadian values.)

In other words, the Canadian immigration system basically treats this country like an exclusive club, but one that welcomes a lot of new members. The former helps to make the latter possible.

In the United States, in contrast, legal immigration levels are much lower, but over the last few decades, illegal immigration levels have often been high. There are more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., up from 3.5 million in 1990. Canada chooses almost every immigrant and refugee who comes here, but the U.S. has millions of people who simply walked across the Mexican border and stayed. This drives American law-and-order types absolutely bonkers. We may be about to discover how Canadians react.

Mr. Trump is talking about building walls against immigrants, but geography bounded Canada on three sides by oceans, and theyre far more effective than any wall. And where there are no physical walls, Canada has erected invisible, bureaucratic ones.

Canada plans to invite in 300,000 newcomers this year. But for an uninvited guest coming from anywhere other than the U.S., Canada is a very difficult place to get to. You can see the European Union from the coast of Turkey and make the crossing in an inflatable boat. Florida is just over the horizon from Cuba, and Cubans have escaped using all kinds of homemade rafts. But unless youve got an ocean liner, you arent sailing to Canada.

And you can fly here from anywhere on earth, but Canada has erected a legal wall designed to prevent the uninvited from boarding a flight. Travellers from most of the world, including nearly all of Latin America, Africa and Asia, need a visa to come to Canada. Its an extremely effective measure for limiting the number of refugee claims. And any time a Canadian government, Liberal or Conservative, has seen an upsurge in refugee claims from one country the Czech Republic and Chile in the 1990s, Mexico a few years ago Ottawa has stemmed the flow by introducing a visa requirement.

And on those rare occasions when asylum seekers have managed to cross the ocean and circumvent the wall, as nearly 500 Sri Lankan Tamils aboard the MV Sun Sea did in 2010, Canadians have completely lost their cool. That year, Canada accepted more than 250,000 immigrants and refugees. It was smooth, humdrum and entirely unnewsworthy. But fewer than 500 asylum seekers on an unauthorized boat had Ottawa completely freaking out.

Which brings us to 2017. As we consider whats happening at the border and what might happen we shouldnt lose our perspective. Canada is already planning on accepting 40,000 refugees this year, most of them chosen overseas from countries such as Syria. If the spring brings a surge in refugee applicants from the U.S., Canada can compensate by reducing the number of refugees its seeking overseas. Or Ottawa could play with the mix of economic immigrants, family reunifications and refugees in this years planned total of 300,000 new Canadians by bumping up the number of refugees and lowering the others. It could also accommodate a spike in arrivals from the U.S. by temporarily raising the total immigration target.

Canada might be able to modify its safe third party rules. If someone from the U.S. comes to a Canadian border post and wants to claim asylum, well return them to America, because it has (or had, pre-Trump) a fair and legal refugee system. The loophole, which the new group of arrivals figured out, is that if someone crosses the Canadian border without authorization, they can make a refugee claim inside Canada. Thats partly a matter of international law and Canadian Supreme Court decisons, but Ottawa may have some wiggle room.

Ottawa can also hire more cops, bureaucrats and refugee adjudicators, speeding up the process for determining who is a genuine, legal refugee, and removing those who arent.

Canadas immigration system has retained a high level of popular acceptance because most of the people who come here, come here by choice our choice. Thats why an incident like the MV Sun Sea created so much angst, all out of proportion to the tiny handful of desperate people involved.

But unless the number of asylum seekers coming from the U.S. massively increases, to thousands of crossers each week, it will not break our peace, order and good government immigration system. It shouldnt break our politics either, unless we let it. Dont start freaking out just yet.

Follow us on Twitter: @GlobeDebate

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Canada has never had a real migrant crisis. Trump may have just changed that - The Globe and Mail

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Previously unseen documents reveal how Germany proposes to relax EU human rights laws to make it easier to boot out rejected asylum seekers at times of mass influx as it attempts to crack down not the escalating migrant crisis engulfing the continent.

A Brussels source said: This is another element in efforts to energise readmission of people to wherever they came from.

The move marks a major backtrack from German Chancellor Angela Merkel who welcomed 1.1 million migrants into her nation following her ill-fated open door refugee policy.

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This is another element in efforts to energise readmission of people to wherever they came from

Brussels source

The major U-turn comes as Mrs Merkel battles to hold on to her premiership as Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Martin Schulz Social Democrat Party (SPD) make strides before the German elections.

Her grip on power is growing weaker as SPD celebrates a surge in support since nominating European Parliament president Mr Schulz to take on the current leader.

Germany passed a bill on Tuesday which will see convicted criminals, who are classified as dangerous to authorities, forced to wear an ankle tag.

It will be applied for a maximum of three months and then reconsidered.

AFP/Getty Images

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chat prior to the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission

Those considered will have committed serious crimes such as murder and manslaughter or a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile German officials have urged Brussels to relax human rights safeguards so more asylum seekers can be deported while awaiting the outcome of their cases.

The EU signed a controversial deal with Turkey last year, allowing the return of migrants only with Ankara.

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But if approved, this proposal would see immigrants transferred to other places, including south of the Mediterranean.

While the EU says it has the right to send away all economic migrants if it chooses, its existing laws on human rights say asylum seekers awaiting a ruling on their cases can only be deported to countries that meet certain conditions.

The working paper lists them as including, safety from threat and persecution, humane reception conditions, and at least partial access to medical care, education and the labour market.

Some parts of this "clearly exceed" the basic safeguards stipulated by the Geneva convention on refugees and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, it says.

But EU officials will consider a safe zone concept, which could mean sending people back to certain areas of countries otherwise deemed too dangerous.

However the plans have not been welcomed by everyone.

Ska Keller, a Green member of the European Parliament, said: These plans are overturning the international law on refugees. This is an utter betrayal, inhumane.

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But the document says the proposal would be instrumental in discouraging people-smugglers.

It read: This is not about building a Fortress Europe. It is about combating illegal immigration, which has already cost the lives of thousands, and about replacing it by a regulated system of legal admissions, combined with humane living conditions, assured by the EU in third countries.

More than 1.1 million migrants entered Germany during the migrant crisis 2015, with most coming from Middle Eastern and North African countries.

And it appears Mrs Merkel's grip on power is growing ever weaker, with rebellion across the country against her controversial immigration policies.

It is not the first time the German leader has hinted at regret over opening her country's doors to a stream of refugees.

Following a devastating defeat in the Berlin state elections last year, she said: If I could, I would turn back the time by many, many years.

However it is feared it is little too late for the Chancellor, whose party even called for a burka ban in the wake of the a string of terror attacks and the sickening sex assaults in Cologne.

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Germany paves way for terror-linked migrants to wear TAGS as it creates deportation rules - Express.co.uk

A national petition launched by a Calgary lawyer is calling on the federal government to temporarily suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement.

The 2004 Canada-United States agreementrequires refugees to make an asylum claimin the first possible country they reach. Under the agreement, Canada is unable to consider asylum for anyone who enters from the U.S., which isdeemed a safe country in which to apply for asylum.

The agreement has recently been linked to an increasing number of people trying to illegally cross the border from the U.S. into Canada.

"The situation has changed due to immigration and refugee policy changes in the States, as evidenced by the situation on ground with refugee claimants not feeling that they will be able to go through a fair process in the U.S. and are seeking to enter into Canada," saidJeremyBarretto, a lawyer with the group behind thepetition, Canadians for Welcoming Refugees.

Hundreds of refugees in the U.S. have been braving long walks in freezing winter temperatures to cross Canadaoutside of regular border crossings.

Barretto says as of Feb. 17 this year,80 individuals have crossed Manitoba's border on foot and he's concerned more people will risk injury or death if the situation isn't resolved.

"Every person is important and we should make sure that people who are fleeing persecution are welcome to make a claim and go through a fair process in Canada," he said.

The request is supported by over 200 Canadian law professors and refugee law experts, and sponsored by Liberal MPDarshanKang.

Under the agreement, it can be suspended for three months, and be extended another threeby either party. The group is asking the government to merely suspend the agreement and monitor the situation.

"This is a non-partisan issue, this is about helping people and protecting people who are fleeing persecutions, so I think there will be much more advocacy to come," he said.

Calgary MP Michelle Rempel agrees that something must be done to keep migrants safe, but feels it must be done in a way that protects the integrity of the immigration system.

"We shouldn't be glossing over the fact that this is, in fact, illegal," she said.

"Both our countries, the United States and Canada, have systems by which people's asylum claims are evaluated. We need to rely on those systems to work."

Rempel is the opposition critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship. She says those asylum-seekers are putting themselves at risk.

Rempelsays there has to be a team effort between all political parties and the media to communicate to people that there are proper, legal and safe ways to enter Canada.

"I grew up in Winnipeg, and the first concern that Ihave is this is a very unsafe activity," she said."It's very cold, there's a lot of risk involved here and people shouldn't be doing this."

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Petition calls on federal government to act on migrant crisis - CBC.ca