Italian police have arrested the alleged pilot of a boat carrying migrants in the Italian port of Pozzallo after identifying him amongst rescued migrants.
Waled Ben Jalel, a Tunisian citizen, was allegedly piloting a wooden boat carrying 680 migrants, of which 369 were rescued by the Italian coast guard ship “Corsi”, which brought them to Pozzallo, in Sicily, on Thursday.
After eight hours of interrogation the Tunisian confessed to the police that he had been paid 2,000 dollars to pilot the boat, police said.The man is now being held for questioning over aiding and abetting illegal migration.
Meanwhile, Residents in Treviso in northern Italy set mattresses on fire Friday in a bid to stop the local government from housing some 100 migrants, media reported.
Authorities plan to accommodate 101 migrants in empty apartments in the village of Quinto, but several angry residents broke into one of the buildings, removed camp beds, mattresses and televisions intended for the newcomers and set them on fire outside.
The protesters then put up tents, with the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoting them as saying: “We aren’t going home until they leave — this is an invasion.” Italy is currently hosting more than 80,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean fleeing war, persecution or poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
The arrivals include many Africans, particularly Eritreans, as well as Syrians.
