Brussels, 30/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Italian media has reported that the Italian minister of the interior Giuliano Amato made a request on Wednesday 29 August to the Commissioner for immigration, Franco Frattini, to involve the European Border Agency (Frontex) in helping solve the problem of illegal immigration in Italy. The Italian minister of the interior is concerned by the frequent debarkations of illegal immigrants in Italian islands. In this context, over the last two days, 250 Algerians illegally entered Sardinia. In most cases, the Algerian immigrants go to Italy in hope of travelling to France. This signifies a change of attitude on the part of Rome, which has never been totally convinced by the effectiveness of controls carried out on the coast by Frontex, preferring individual partnerships with third countries similar to the Italian-Libyan cooperation already established. Although this idea is still valid, diversification of the routes used by the migrants to get to Europe means that greater coordination between Union countries is needed. This is exactly where Frontex comes in. Nothing, however, will prevent a member state from trying to build strong links between key countries. Last week Mr Amato met the Algerian ambassador in Rome to examine the possibility of speeding up repatriation procedures for immigrants from the Maghreb. According to the Italian minister of the interior, 12,419 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy in 2007, as opposed to 14,511 in 2006. A boat containing around forty illegal immigrants was reported missing off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa at the beginning of the week. More than 400 migrants have been intercepted since Monday evening off the Italian coasts by coast guards and customs officials. Europol believes that more than 500,00 illegal immigrations get into the European Union every year. (bc)