Lampedusa: Tunisians set fire to refugee center, protest deportations

Lampedusa: Tunisians set fire to refugee center, protest deportations

Via La Repubblica (Italian):

Tunisians set fire to the refugee center in Lampedusa yesterday to protest their upcoming deportation. There are about a thousand Tunisians still on the island.

This morning dozens of the local inhabitants started threw stones at the Tunisians, who threw stones back. The locals also attacked a TV crew, and accused them of spreading a distorted image of the island. Meanwhile, 300 Tunisians marched through the streets shouting 'Freedom, Freedom'.

Local officials and police say they are unable to deal with the situation, and expect the government to speed up the deportations.