Lampedusa: Ursula von der Leyen presents emergency plan to help Italy

2023-09-17 13:40:40

In recent days, thousands of migrants from the North African coast have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The United Nations migration agency counted around 8,500 people, more than the entire population of Lampedusa, arriving on 199 boats. Faced with this migration crisis, Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission arrived on site this Sunday morning. They went to the port where dozens of makeshift boats are moored on which candidates for exile embark, most often departing from Tunisia.

Ursula von der Leyen immediately presented an emergency plan to help Italy manage this record arrival of migrants on its territory. After visiting the reception center for migrants on the small island, she detailed a 10-point aid plan, intended to manage the current situation, to better distribute applicants between European countries and to prevent the repetition of episodes of mass arrivals which put significant strain on the logistical and administrative capacities of the peninsula.

This situation, which has relaunched the debate on the sharing of responsibilities within the European Union, also causes tensions among the island’s inhabitants. Residents unhappy with these massive arrivals greeted the officials at the airport, threatening to block their procession.

“We are doing everything we can,” Giorgia Meloni told them, adding: “As usual, I take personal responsibility.” The two leaders are expected to make a statement to the press late this morning. “The future of Europe is at stake here,” said the Italian Prime Minister. The President of the European Commission echoed him, believing that “irregular immigration is a European challenge which needs a European response” and calling on “member states to welcome” on a voluntary basis migrants who have landed in Italy. In addition, the President of the European Commission also proposed a plan to confront the emergency, consisting in particular of broadening the mobilization of Frontex to fight against smugglers, accelerating financial aid to Tunisia, mainly

A system on the verge of asphyxiation

In the meantime, the Italian Red Cross (CRI) which manages the “hot spot” (reception center) of Lampedusa indicated on Sunday that 1,500 migrants were still there, for a capacity of 400 people, their transfer to the Sicily and the continent not completely compensating for new arrivals. “Other transfers are planned during the day,” said the CRI. Large NGO ships, such as the Geo Barrents of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which rescued nearly 500 migrants in 11 operations, are directed to major Italian ports. But dozens of small boats continue their crossing of the Mediterranean and arrive directly in Lampedusa where the migrant management system has found itself on the verge of asphyxiation.

This migration crisis has been the subject of intense diplomatic activity for three days. Gérald Darmanin will go to Italy “in the coming days”, Giorgia Meloni and President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Saturday, promising to “strengthen cooperation at the European level (…) to find effective, immediate and longer-term solutions to this crisis,” according to Paris.

VIDEO. 7,000 migrants on the island of Lampedusa, state of emergency declared

Located less than 150 km from the Tunisian coast, Lampedusa is one of the first stopover points for migrants crossing the Mediterranean hoping to reach Europe. Every year during the summer, tens of thousands take to the sea on makeshift boats. “The migratory pressure that Italy has been experiencing since the start of the year is unsustainable,” explained Giorgia Meloni, who is at the head of a right-wing and far-right coalition, on Friday.

She estimated that “tens of millions of people” in Africa could want to leave their countries due to coups or famine, deeming it “obvious that Italy and Europe cannot accommodate this enormous mass” of migrants. A total of more than 127,000 migrants have landed on Italian shores since the start of the year, almost double compared to the same period in 2022.