Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Italian Interior Minister Closes Largest Migrant Camp in Europe

Sabina Castelfranco

   ROME - What was once Europe's largest asylum seeker and migrant
   reception center, the CARA Mineo, near Catania, in Sicily, was
   officially closed Tuesday. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini
   hailed the move, saying police investigations had discovered the
   activity of what he called "mafias, not only Italian but also
   Nigerian," based at the center.

   Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he kept the promise he had made:
   close the camp in Mineo, considered one of the largest in Europe. The
   remaining migrants have been moved to a center in Calabria and no one
   remains at the facility, which housed more than 4,100 people at its
   peak in July 2014.

   Before being turned into a reception center, it was a housing complex
   for the U.S. military. Salvini said the complex, which resembles an
   American suburb, will be put to good use but no decision has yet been
   taken as to what it will become.

   The anti-immigration interior minister, who traveled Tuesday morning to
   Mineo, hailed the closure.

   "Some investigation has brought to light the evident activity of
   mafias, not only Italian but also Nigerian, which had expanded as a
   drug dealing operation in the whole local area. Now the CARA is closing
   and it is a beautiful morning," said Salvini.

.