Migrant Influx to Italy's Lampedusa critical - Reports
The total number of refugees has reached 1870, which is five times over the capacity of the island's detention center.
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Italian island facing mounting pressure from increasing migrant flux
The situation on Italy's island of Lampedusa is getting more critical as the number of migrants from West Asia and North Africa continues to grow, according to media reports.
More than a thousand migrants have landed on the small island in recent hours, and hundreds more are waiting on humanitarian aid ships. The influx comes amid the legislative campaign for which the far-right is getting more popular in Italy.
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More than 120 refugees arrived on the island at dawn, bringing the total number of migrants in the local detention center to over 1,870.
The detention center of this small island, closest to Africa than Italy, is heavily overcrowded; It currently has more than five times its capacity, according to Italian broadcaster Rai News.
The Sicilian province of Agrigento issued an order to urgently remove some of the migrants from Lampedusa by boats and ferries to alleviate the pressure. However, the number of migrants to be relocated is yet to be determined.
On Sunday, the Italian Coast Guard and Financial Guard rescued migrants who were attempting to reach the Apennines from Tunisia and Libya on three boats. Among them were Egyptians, Eritreans, Moroccans, Palestinians, and Syrians.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 34,000 migrants have already arrived in the country by sea, in comparison with 25,500 during the same period last year. In total, over 67,000 people arrived in the Apennines via the Mediterranean last year, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
Giorgia Meloni of the far-right tweeted on January the following:
"Hundreds of other illegal immigrants arriving in Lampedusa. While the government imposes restrictions on Italians, our borders remain wide open to mass illegal immigration. Italy needs a government that defends its borders: these incompetents must go home."
According to a poll conducted by La7 Italian news outlet on the 18th of July, the far-right Brothers of Italy party, headed by Giorgia Meloni, is the largest political party in Italy and has the approval of 23,8% of the total number of Italian eligible voters.
Altre centinaia di clandestini in arrivo a Lampedusa. Mentre il governo impone restrizioni agli italiani, le nostre frontiere rimangono spalancate all’immigrazione illegale di massa. L’Italia ha bisogno di un governo che difenda i confini: questi incompetenti devono andare a casa pic.twitter.com/olxdDPHSvF
— Giorgia Meloni 🇮🇹 ن (@GiorgiaMeloni) January 29, 2022
