2023-09-15 04:06:22
The little one Lampedusa islandin the region of Sicily, Italy received in just two days some 7,000 migrants that arrived in boats from North Africathe andequivalent to the entire local population, which caused the local shelter to collapse. That place, with capacity for less than 400 people, was seen overflowed by men, women and children forced to sleep outside on makeshift plastic beds, many wrapped in survival blankets.
The migration crisis that doubled the island’s population with migrants from from Tunisia, On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, it was boosted by good weather, which encouraged arrivals to the Italian coasts in recent days. More than 5,000 people arrived in the country this Tuesday and almost 3,000 on Wednesday, according to data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
According to Matteo Villa, of the ISPI think tank, the number of arrivals in 48 hours is an “absolute record“.
The president of the Italian Red Cross that manages the Lampedusa reception center, Rosario Valastro, assured this Thursday that They do “the impossible, and more than the impossible”.
The municipality declared the local state of emergency and they already exploded tensions while the Red Cross distributed food, forcing the police to intervene.
Hundreds more migrants already arrived on the island this Thursday, but many others were transferred to the larger island of Sicily, and the Red Cross assured that the situation was “more under control.”
Located about 145 kilometers off the coast of TunisiaLampedusa is one of the stopping points for migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
The images in the area are shocking. Some young people went to the historic center of Lampedusa, according to photographers from the French agency AFP. Several said that they were hungrybut few had money and some restaurants rejected them. Other establishments offered them free foodor residents and tourists paid for it.
Most migrants are rescued from their fragile boats at sea by the coast guard, which takes them to the port of Lampedusa.
The other side of the tragedy, a baby died in the waters of the Mediterranean in another attempted migrant crossing
But many don’t go that far. More than 2,000 people died so far this year crossing between North Africa and Italy and Malta, according to the UN migration agency.
A migrant woman carries her child, upon arrival to the island of Lampedusa from North Africa. Photo Yara Nardi / Reuters
The last known victim was a five month old babywho supposedly fell into the water this Wednesday when he was part of a group that was being brought to shore.
For years, the Lampedusa reception center had difficulties coping with arrivals. Humanitarian organizations indicated a lack of water, food and medical care.
The Italian Red Cross took over in June, promising a more “dignified” reception.
“The situation is certainly complex and we are trying to progressively return to normality,” declared Francesca Basile, head of migration for the organization.
Meanwhile, Italy’s far-right government, led by Giorgia Melonirecently assigned some 48 million dollars to Lampedusa to help the island better manage the immigration situation.
Meloni, elected a year ago under the promise of end mass migrationasks aid to the European Union.
The European Commission responded that it has already provided $14.9 million in emergency aid to manage arrivals, in addition to hundreds of border, security and immigration officials.
“We are willing to support italy and that is what we are doing,” said a European spokeswoman.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, an anti-immigration party, declared that he saw the massive arrivals as “an act of war” against Italy.
According to figures announced by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), almost 114,300 migrants arrived illegally in Italy from North Africa through the Mediterranean Sea between January and August of this year, case the double than in the same period of 2022.l
The Italian Government compared these figures and reported that the number of people who arrived via this route so far this year was 126,000, compared to 66,000 in the same period last year.
Even so, the numbers still do not exceed those of 2016, when more than 181,000 migrants, many Syrians fleeing the war, arrived in Europe illegally.
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