Italy's politicians are stoking fear of migration among the population outgoing justice minister Andrea Orlando said on Friday.
"This is a society that is full of fear and politics can channel these fears in various directions," Orlando said during a visit to Palermo, Sicily.
"Today, people's fears are being directed towards migrants but also towards petty crime," Orlando stated.
Orlando belongs to the Democratic Party (PD) whose centre-left coalition came a poor third in last month's inconclusive national election.
Voters snubbed the PD over immigration - a sensitive issue in Italy where over 600,000 boat migrants have arrived from Africa since 2014 - and the over the sluggish pace of economic recovery.
Italy has been under a caretaker government since the election as president Sergio Mattarella struggles to form a coalition government from the main political forces in the hung parliament. The PD had been in power since 2013.
