Anti-immigration Northern League leader Matteo Salvini said he would employ a team of lawyers to sue the government for "favouring clandestine immigration".
“It is now clear that [immigration] is organised and funded; we will sue the premier, ministers and the commanders of the Navy and Coast Guard," Salvini stated.
The Italian government has indicated that in 2017, migrant reception will cost 1 billion euros more than last year.
In 2016, more asylum seekers arrived in Italy by boat than in any previous year on record.
Last year, The Guardian reported that though migration flows between Turkey and Greece had been drastically reduced following improvements in Turkish policing, increased threats of deportation from Greece, and the closure of a humanitarian corridor between Greece and Germany, Italy remains one of the main migrant gateways into Europe.
