Over 1,000 migrants arrive on Italy’s Lampedusa in 24 hours
Rome, Nov 21 (EFE).- At least 1,087 migrants have arrived on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa over the past 24 hours, with 576 of them crammed into an overcrowded fishing boat, Italian media reported on Tuesday.
The influx has once again strained Lampedusa’s reception center to its limits, following the arrival of hundreds of migrants on at least 12 boats in just a few hours.
Despite the immediate transfer of several groups to other Italian accommodation centers, the Lampedusa reception center remained overcrowded on Tuesday, with housing 907 migrants.
After a day of continuous arrivals on Monday, a fishing boat carrying 576 migrants from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which had set sail from Libya reached the shores of the island overnight.
Shortly afterward, another group of 43 migrants from Gambia, Guinea, Malaysia, and Senegal, who had also set sail on the same day, arrived on the island, which is the closest Italian territory to the African continent, and the major hub for newly arrived migrants.
Italy is facing a record number of migrant arrivals on its southern islands this year, leading to a growing debate among European countries on how to address the issue.
On Monday, the Italian Ministry of the Interior reported that 149,751 migrants have arrived on the country’s shores so far in 2023, compared to 93,901 in 2022. EFE
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