Thirty-two per cent of those currently serving prison sentences are of immigrant background. In some penal institutions their proportion is as high as 78 per cent.

Nearly one-third, 32 per cent, of inmates in Italian prisons are migrants. The latest official data suggests that more than 17,000 inmates have an immigrant background.

A significant proportion of these individuals entered Italy illegally. The ethnic distribution of inmates varies greatly from region to region, but there are areas where their proportion reaches 78 per cent.

Deputy Interior Minister Nicola Molteni said that most crimes are being committed by illegal immigrants.

„Data linked to migrant landings are alarming. Of the 67,000 illegal immigrants who arrived in Italy last year, 40,000 arrived by small dinghies, rafts or sailboats and 10,000 through those NGOs which regularly return to command in the Mediterranean, violating international conventions, laws and regulatory provisions,” the deputy interior minister said.

Mr Molteni called it unfortunate that „at the time when the number of illegal immigrants arriving in Italy is growing, the number of crimes they commit is also steadily increasing.”

Statistics show that the most common crimes committed by foreigners in Italy are drug trafficking, child prostitution, homicide and falsification of documents.

A typical example of the crimes committed by immigrants can be found in the account of a police officer wanting to remain anonymous, who described the violence that took place in the centre of Milan on New Year’s Eve. “From midnight to 4.30 am, we stood in Piazza Duomo, in helmets and shields, trying to chase away the people gathering there, intervene in fights and prevent robberies. These acts were carried out by a few dozen illegal immigrants. Sometimes we could not even keep them back, we would have to move 100-200 people at a time. There were more than 500 police interventions in the area.”

Individuals of immigrant background also sexually assaulted, shoving and groping a 19-year-old girl that night. “There was terrible news from the New Year’s celebrations in Milan. Around thirty youths sexually assaulted a 19-year-old girl only a few steps from the Duomo at around half past midnight. Only the arrival of police forced the herd to flee,” regional councillor Riccardo De Corato said.

During the New Year’s Eve celebrations, an 18-year-old boy was stabbed in the neck on Via Mazzini near the cathedral and two other boys were beaten.

Another police officer said that “the chaos on New Year’s Eve was caused by immigrants and their children.”