Italy has delivered three inshore patrol boats to Libya as part of an agreement to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

The handover took place at a ceremony at Gaeta. Another three patrol boats were given to Libya a few months ago.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said that Italy and Libya could not, on their own, carry the burden of a migration and this was a problem which involved the whole of Europe. He also complained that the European Union had not made much headway on this issue.

In 2008 Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader leader Muammer Gaddafi agreed that immigrants who were intercepted in international waters would be returned to Libya.

Critics said this practice violates the rights of political and religious refugees, who are not being given the chance to apply for asylum.

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