Politics fuelling fears of migration: Italian Minister

Palermo (Italy) April 27 (IANS/AKI) Italy s politicians are stoking fear of migration among the population outgoing Justice Minister Andrea Orlando said on Friday.

"This is a society that is full of fear and politics can channel these fears in various directions. Today people s fears are being directed towards migrants but also towards petty crime " he said during a visit to this Sicilian city.

Orlando belongs to the Democratic Party (PD) whose centre-left coalition came a poor third in last month s inconclusive national election.

Voters snubbed the PD over immigration - a sensitive issue in Italy where over 600 000 boat migrants have arrived from Africa since 2014 - and the over the sluggish pace of economic recovery.

Italy has been under a caretaker government since the election as President Sergio Mattarella struggles to form a coalition government from the main political forces in the hung parliament.

The PD had been in power since 2013.

--IANS/AKI
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