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Put all migrants in quarantine: far-right

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Put all migrants in quarantine: far-right
A health worker in Guinea prepares to treat Ebola patients. Photo: Seyllou/AFP

A councillor from the far-right Northern League party has called for all immigrants in Milan to be screened for the deadly Ebola virus. Unnecessary, people who work with immigrants tell The Local.

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The proposal was voiced by Fabio Rolfi, a Northern League (Lega Nord) councillor for the Lombardy region, La Repubblica said on Tuesday.

He suggested “a preventative quarantine in welcome centres for undocumented immigrants that arrive in Milan every day,” to minimize the risk of Ebola spreading within Italy.

An outbreak of the disease has killed 887 people in West Africa, with fears being raised that the virus could spread to European countries.

SEE ALSO: Ebola outbreak: Spanish priest put in quarantine

Rolfi was not immediately available to comment on his proposal, although a spokesman for the Northern League told The Local the councillor’s views represented those of the party across the Lombardy region.

But the idea of putting migrants in quarantine has been dismissed by those running Italy's immigration centres.

Speaking from the Caritas Ambrosiana immigration centre in Milan, spokesman Francesco Chiavarini said the situation was “under control”.

“We always do health screenings in collaboration with the local health services. In reality it’s not out of control; it’s under control and monitored,” he told The Local.

“Milan is not the first frontier. The most attention is on where immigrants arrive, not in Milan,” he added.

Around 93,000 migrants have arrived by boat in Italy so far this year, the majority crossing from North Africa and arriving on the country’s southern coast or islands.

The Ebola outbreak has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, although there has also been one death in Nigeria. Meanwhile boat migrants to Italy more often come from East African nations such as Eritrea and Somalia, with an increasing number fleeing the war in Syria.

SEE ALSO: Ebola risk in Denmark 'very, very small'

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