Brussels, 15/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Secretary of State at the Federal Home Affairs Ministry Peter Altmeier said on Thursday 14 May that Italy's returning of would-be immigrants to Libya was legal. “The Interior Ministry agrees with the Italian government. What happened was fully in line with international law,” he said in a debate organised by the EPP. He argued that the migrants had been picked up in international waters, so the Italian vessels could perfectly legally force them to turn back. It was a “hot issue”, but it was certainly a success from the point of view of tackling illegal immigration, he added. The UN High Commission for Refugees has several times stated that, among those sent back, were many asylum seekers (see EUROPE 9902). “You cannot file a request for asylum in international waters,” Altmeier noted, stressing that, for the moment, member states and the European Union were, by and large, complying with international agreements. He was speaking in the debate on “Making Europe a Safer Place”, one of the EPP's five priorities for the European elections. (B.C./transl.rt)