Deputy Foreign Minister Harendra Corea in reference to the news item entitled "Italian police detain Lankan illegals" in yesterdays issue of the ‘The Island’ states:

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Italy has been informed that Sicilian police have detained about 120 Sri Lankans as illegal immigrants.

Sri Lankan Embassy officials are proceeding from Rome to Sicily to identify these per sons. As soon as the Embassy officials identify these people as Sri Lankan illegal immigrants, passports will be issued to them. Then the Italian authorities will proceed to deport these persons?

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Italy cannot do anything other than identifying persons as Sri Lankans.