COALITION PASSES BILL FOR MIGRANT CRACKDOWN

Italy’s populist government has passed a bill that will make it harder for migrants to claim humanitarian protection and easier to expel failed asylum seekers.

It’s part of the coalition’s campaign to reduce the number of migrants and refugees arriving by boat from North Africa and to repatriate those who are denied asylum status after they arrive.

It came as the last migrant rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean had its registration revoked by Panama, with humanitarian groups accusing Italy of being behind the move.

Matteo Salvini, the Italian interior minister, said that migrants or refugees who requested asylum would have their applications denied if they were considered “socially dangerous” or convicted of crimes.