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| Migrants escape on Italian island | Migrants escape on Italian island |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Hundreds of illegal immigrants have broken out of a detention centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa and are staging a protest, officials have said. | Hundreds of illegal immigrants have broken out of a detention centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa and are staging a protest, officials have said. |
| Lampedusa mayor Bernardino De Rubeis told the AFP news agency the centre's security fence had been toppled and that about 700 immigrants had escaped. | Lampedusa mayor Bernardino De Rubeis told the AFP news agency the centre's security fence had been toppled and that about 700 immigrants had escaped. |
| They are said to be complaining about conditions at the camp, which was built for 850 but is currently holding 2,000. | |
| On Friday, the UN urged Rome to address the "difficult humanitarian situation". | |
| The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed mounting concern about overcrowding. Hundreds have been forced to sleep outdoors in the cold. | |
| The UNHCR also criticised a government decision to hold those who survive the perilous sea-crossing on the Mediterranean island until their cases are decided. Previously, they were sent to other centres. | |
| 'Tense situation' | |
| Mr De Rubeis said about 700 immigrants had fled the detention Lampedusa centre on Saturday morning and converged on the nearby town centre, shouting "Freedom" and "Help us". | |
| Italy says more than 30,000 immigrants landed on Lampedusa last year | |
| "It is a very tense situation," he told the AFP news agency. | |
| The migrants are said to be protesting about conditions at the detention centre and the government's move to open a new Centre for Identification and Expulsion (CEI) at a disused military base on the island. | |
| Residents have also protested against the government's plans for the new holding centre, which Mr De Rubeis said they believed "would become a sort of prison". | |
| The Italian interior ministry says about 31,700 immigrants landed on Lampedusa last year - an increase of 75% from 2007. | |
| In the past, those migrants seeking asylum would have been sent to the Italian mainland. | |
| Now, under a new policy implemented in December, they are being held on the island. Those that fail immigration checks are sent back to their home country. | |
| Correspondents say many would-be migrants are fleeing wars or poverty in countries such as Somalia and Eritrea and risk the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to enter Europe. |