Rom.
The number of boat people coming to Italy is increasing rapidly. This is now becoming a big problem for Prime Minister Meloni.
Europe’s southern border begins on the Lampedusa Island. Until then, the refugees leaving the Tunisian coast have to make it in their rubber boats. The wind continued to decrease overnight. A thin mist gathers and vanishes again. After days of rough seas, the weather conditions are ideal for the departure from the Tunisian coast. Lampedusa – Italy – is only 113 kilometers away from Tunisia. For more than 15 years, the 20 square kilometer island has been confronted with the problem of migration on a daily basis.
But in the last few months, the Migration reached an unprecedented level. Since the beginning of the year, around 35,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean, four times more than in the same period in 2022. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is sounding the alarm: If the economic and social situation in Tunisia does not stabilize, 900,000 people could make the journey to Europe.
Italy: Coast Guard seized Mohammed’s boat
If the wooden vehicles don’t crash on the cliffs of the European island, they will be confiscated and later destroyed. Whole families are leaving Tunisia hoping to reach Lampedusa. Mohammed, an 18-year-old from the mountains of central Eritrea, crouches in one of the boats. With him are 100 people in the dinghy climbed towards Lampedusa. At three o’clock in the morning they left the Tunisian city of Sfax. The women and children sit on the floorboards next to the petrol barrels, surrounded by the men. Mohammed is lucky. The boat was picked up by an Italian Coast Guard ship and escorted to the port of Lampedusa.
Also read: What asylum policy can learn from climate policy
Now Mohamed and his companions are in the refugee camp housed on the island. Those migrants who make the sea crossing remain cooped up for days in the hotspot, which houses up to 2,400 people. The refugee camp was only intended for 400 people. The arid island, which was used as a penal colony for a few years after 1872, has become the migrant ghetto in the Mediterranean.
“Many minors have arrived unaccompanied”
The fence gives an insight into the conditions under which the refugees, who had to leave their countries without any belongings, are forced to endure. Many of them have to sleep outside, just warming themselves with the blankets that rescuers gave them when they arrived. The hygienic conditions are precarious. Aid organizations complain about the conditions: there is a lack of clothes and shoes, there are too few showers in the center and no working internet so that the refugees can communicate with their relatives at home.
Children, women and men are crammed into a very small space. Nobody is allowed to leave the camp. It is not uncommon for conflicts to arise, including violence. The location on the island is tense.
Also interesting: Refugees: How Germany wants to relieve the asylum authorities
“Many pregnant women arrive in the ninth month,” reports Francesco D’Arca, director of the island’s polyclinic. “So we need to start transferring these women to the mainland immediately. And then there are many children. Many minors arrived unaccompanied,” says the doctor.
Lampedusa lives from tourism, the residents are not very enthusiastic about the camp
The migrants leave the hotspot of Lampedusa on an Air Force plane or by ferry and go to Sicily, or to the Italian mainland brought. In order to relieve the situation, the Meloni government has now decided to use an additional ship that will take the migrants away from Lampedusa several times a week. The cabinet thus wants to avoid protests among the 6,000 residents of the island, who feel besieged by the increasing number of migrants. The island thrives on tourism, and residents complain that the constant arrival of migrants is damaging tourism.
The government in Rome has because of the recent high migration numbers Mediterranean route declared a state of emergency across the country. This is valid for six months. Special funding is to be made available to the southern regions that are particularly affected by the migration problem.
115,000 refugees are currently being cared for by the Italian reception system
The state of emergency confers special powers on the government. With the regulation, new reception centers for refugees can now be set up in order to be able to identify and deport people more quickly. Around 115,000 refugees are currently being cared for by the Italian reception system. Not counting people from Ukraine, who enjoy special protection because of the Russian war of aggression. Prime Minister Meloni tirelessly calls for help from the EU.
“Those people who have a residency permit can build a future in Italy. However, those who do not have the necessary prerequisites are not allowed to enter Italy illegally. This is not just our policy, but that of the entire European Union,” emphasizes Meloni.
Die opposition in Parliament in Rome reacted with ridicule: “For years, the right-wingers have blamed the politics of the left and the NGOs for the increase in the number of migrants,” said Mauro Mauri, once Deputy Minister of the Interior and a member of the Democratic Party. But now the excuses were running out.
Also read: Asylum policy at the limit: what the federal and state governments are planning now
More articles from this category can be found here: Politics
