Meanwhile, in Italy, the country's new far-right interior minister says immigration would be one of the new populist government's top priorities. Matteo Salvini has been campaigning heavily on an anti-immigration agenda and based on his popularity, that seems to be working. CGTN's Natalie Carney has more.

In the 1990s this building was known as Hotel Africa until the city evacuated its refugee tenants. Three decades later and history appears to be repeating itself. Today, almost 300 refugees sleep here with no water, no electricity and little comforts.

ROBERTO VIVIANI PRESIDENT, BAOBAB ASSOCIATION "There are people who have just arrived in the boat to Sicily. There are people who are sent back from other European countries for the implementation of the Dublin accord."

Baobab is a volunteer association run by local Rome residents to offer what they can to help people they feel are being ignored by the country. But others in Italy are not so convinced that these people should stay.

VALANTINA ALBATO ROME RESIDENT "I'm afraid of the immigrants so much. I have two daughters and I'm scared to let them go out in the evening where I live. I live in a small village and it is full of immigrants during the night-time."

One of the first priorities for the country's new interior minister, Matteo Salvini, head of the far right League party is to send immigrants home.

EUGENIO ZOFFILI MEMBER OF LEAGUE PARTY "There is a huge presence of these people called immigrants that our people are maintaining when there are Italians that cannot live until the end of the month and are in serious difficulties. We want to stop the immigration with some serious political change that can also help them directly in their own country and stop them from coming here."

NATALIE CARNEY ROME "The issue of migration is a hot topic domestically but it also has heightened Italian animosity towards the European Union, who many feel abandoned them on the issue."

A recent agreement by Italy's new coalition government demands that the EU resettle asylum seekers across the union through a quota system and review the Dublin regulation, which states that refugees must remain in the EU country they first land.

PROFESSOR ALBERTO CASTELVECCHI LUISS UNIVERSITY, ROME "European system turned their back. France closed their borders, their frontiers and the same thing was going to happen with Austria. We have a bad problem with Hungary, which despite being part of the European community is approving laws banning illegal immigration, so we Italians feel left alone and this is not good for the European affection of the Italians."

More than 13,500 refugees crossed the Mediterranean to Italy since the start of the year, like Abdu from Sudan.

ABDU SUDANESE REFUGEE, ROME "Four of my friends died in the sea. The rubber boat went upside down, and water came inside it. Even myself would have died, but they helped me."

But for others who too risked their lives to get here, returning back is simply not an option.

ROBERTO VIVIANI PRESIDENT, BAOBAB ASSOCIATION "They have to come back to a life of poverty if it's good or to death because they had to escape. No one put themselves in a boat in the Mediterranean sea if they are not desperate."

Some refugees fall under the protection of the Geneva convention, others are left very worried. Yet deporting them back will be costly, but a price a growing number of Italians are willing to pay. Natalie Carney, CGTN, Rome, Italy.