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.