Italy Deports 27 Africans From German Aid Ship

Italy on Thursday deported another 27 of the African refugees who were rescued by the German aid ship Cap Anamur, and brought ashore in Sicily on July 12. On Wednesday, five of the group of 37 refugees were flown back to their home countries. Of the five that are still in Italy, only one has been granted permission to stay. A plane to Ghana carrying the 27 Africans left Rome at dawn, accompanied by demonstrations against the Italian authorities treatment of the refugees. Opposition politicians called the expulsions "shameful." Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu defended the government, saying the operators of the German ship, owned by the Cologne-based aid agency Cap Anamur, were "capable manipulators" of the media and had sought the "biggest possible return" in publicity through its rescue action. Pisanu said that Italian police had found that none of the refugees was from Sudan's Darfur region as claimed, and that none deserved asylum.