ROME --  “Italy has the world record in the reception of people, and we are world champions in the protection of human lives," Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Wednesday.

  "We already understood two years ago what was being confirmed: for two years, we have been saying that immigration is not only an Italian problem, but a European one,” Alfano told Canale 5 television.

  “It is Europe, not Germany, that can tell the difference between those who are fleeing from war and persecution, and economic migrants: the former are welcomed, the latter are repatriated."

   "Since January 1, 2015, Italy has repatriated 9,376 foreigners, either by turning them away at the border, or repatriating them, and since 1 January, we have arrested 468 people smugglers: their arrests alone have persuaded other smugglers to change their mind and not pass through to Italy, preferring the Balkan route,"