Premier Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday
that the illegal arrival of migrants provided "fertile ground"
for crime in response to the news of a major corruption probe in
the southern city of Salerno regarding residence permits.
"The investigation by the Salerno DDA (anti-mafia
investigators), which has led to 36 being probed and uncovered
over 2,000 false applications for residence permits, confirms
once again what the government has denounced: the management of
migratory flows has been fertile ground for unscrupulous
criminals for years," Meloni said via social media.
"There was a system that speculated on immigration, exploiting
foreign citizens who were willing to pay in order to obtain a
residence permit, fuelling illegal earnings of millions of
euros.
"It is no coincidence that we have decided to strengthen
controls to prevent legal entry quotas from ending up in the
hands of those who exploit immigration to do business.
"And it is no coincidence that I have submitted a complaint to
the (national) Anti-Mafia (prosecutor's department) to shed
light on the all-too-many anomalies in this system.
"Immigration cannot be left at the mercy of crime. We will
continue to work to re-establish serious rules and legality".
The opposition, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said Monday
that it has suspended its treasurer in Campania, Nicola Salvati,
after he was put under house arrest in relation to the
residence-permit probe.
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