E/CN.4/2005/85/Add.3 page 7 III. TOPICS A. Management and control of migratory flows in Italy Border control and combating clandestine immigration 17. The management of migration in Italy is shaped by the country’s geographical situation and its membership of the European Union and the Schengen Agreement. Italy has signed agreements on migration with countries of origin and transit, which in some cases include readmission agreements to control clandestine immigration. These agreements seem to have successfully contained the migratory flows which used to arrive from Albania. The Government acknowledged the problems of controlling flows from Central Africa, the Middle East and Asia, via Libya and Tunisia. The authorities claim to have observed a growing number of illegal Latin Americans. 18. Italian law punishes persons who assist the illegal entry of an alien by up to three years’ imprisonment and fines of up to €15,000 for each clandestine undocumented migrant entering the country. 19. The Special Rapporteur was given information about the Italian coastal air-sea system for the surveillance, monitoring and checking of immigration, with the participation of various State security bodies and the Armed Forces. The military arm of the Navy is responsible for surveillance on the high seas in the Western Mediterranean and on the east coast, in collaboration with the Albanian authorities. The Guardia di Finanza is responsible for checking clandestine immigration from the area adjoining Italy; it operates in both international and territorial waters and is empowered to make arrests and confiscate property. The Italian Police operates solely in territorial waters. Lastly, the Coast Guard may intervene in any of the above three situations, providing rescue and assistance at sea in the event of the risk of shipwreck, restricting its interventions to the 12 + 12 mile zone, but extending to up to 100 miles for humanitarian reasons. All operations are coordinated by the Prefect of the province with cooperation from the Chief of Police in technical aspects. In Brindisi, the Special Rapporteur attended a simulated interception and boarding of a vessel at sea. The members of the security forces in Lampedusa explained that they made daily flights over the sector between the island, Tunisia and Libya, as far as Malta. When a vessel was located with undocumented immigrants on board, a sea-rescue operation was organized and the immigrants were taken to the nearest port. 20. The Special Commissioner in Brindisi confirmed that, as a result of agreements with Albania, no noteworthy landings from that country had been registered on the Italian coast for two years. Currently, the majority of undocumented migrants were intercepted on board vessels or in lorries. In Brindisi, the number of interceptions had begun to fall in 2000, when 5,670 individuals were detected attempting to enter Italy clandestinely. During the first half of 2004, 257 persons were allegedly intercepted, of whom 35 were turned away at the border. The others had apparently entered through Greece, and were therefore returned to that