Source:
Al JazeeraItaly has called a humanitarian emergency after thousands of migrants sailed across the Mediterranean from Tunisia, overwhelming authorities on a remote island.
"The cabinet today... has proclaimed a state of humanitarian emergency following the influx of the large number of citizens from North Africa," the government said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement said that the decision to call an official emergency would enable civil protection officers "to take immediate action needed to control this phenomenon and assist citizens who have fled from North Africa".
SNIP
The majority of the people have come from nearby Tunisia, in the wake of the country's revolution four weeks ago.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/20112122328974957.html