(ANSA) - Rome, October 13 - The interior ministry said
Tuesday 137,000 migrants made it to Italy and 61,000 asylum
claims have been filed so far this year.
The latter number is up 30% over last year, Interior
Undersecretary Domenico Manzione told a hearing of a
parliamentary investigative commission on migrant and refugee
reception.
Manzione said the government has doubled the number of
asylum examination boards and their productivity almost doubled
since last year, with 46,000 rulings in 2015 against 27,000 in
2014.
He added the government has asked the courts to set aside
special judges to rule in cases of rejected asylum claim
appeals, because right now that process can take as long as 18
months and the government is "concerned" about that.
Asylum claims up 30% over last year says interior ministry
137,000 migrants reached Italy so far this year