Social Issues

Italy’s Lampedusa reception center overcrowded with over 1,600 migrants

Rome, Jul 25 (EFE).- Over 1,600 people were crowded on Monday in a reception center in the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, technically equipped to host 350 people, after a massive influx of migrants in recent days.

Some 200 migrants, including women and children, joined overnight the already 1,000 people who arrived on the island over the weekend. The migrants are mostly Afghans, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Somalis, Nigerians, Senegalese and Eritreans, according to local media.

In recent hours, more migrants from Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Palestine arrived. They were traveling from Libya and Tunisia in two small boats that were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard a few meters off the coast.

Last week, the Italian Navy transferred some 600 migrants to other cities across the country after nearly 2,000 people were staying in the small reception center.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian ships Sea Watch3 and Ocean Viking were sailing with over 700 migrants on board during a rescue mission.

Over 34,000 people have reached the Italian coast this year, compared to 25,500 who arrived in the same period in 2021, according to the interior ministry’s recent data. EFE

mr/ta/mp

Related Articles

Back to top button