Within hours, more than a thousand migrants landed in Italy

More than a thousand migrants have landed in Italy in recent hours, and hundreds more are waiting on humanitarian ships on Saturday, July 23. More than 600 people who tried to cross the Mediterranean in a fishing boat were rescued on Saturday by a merchant ship and the coast guard off Calabria, south of La Botte. They landed at several ports in Sicily. Authorities also found the bodies of five migrants on board, who died under yet-to-be-determined circumstances.

On the island of Lampedusa, 522 people, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, arrived in about fifteen boats from Tunisia and Libya from Saturday 23rd July to Sunday 24th July. Italian media reports that the reception center on this tiny rock, closer to Africa than Italy, is overflowing. With a seating capacity of about 300 people, it currently houses 1,200 people, according to ANSA.

Daily Sicily It mentions that the last landing at Lampedusa saw dozens, even hundreds of people, but small inflatable ships. Four Tunisians, including a woman, were stranded at night on the beach of Cala Pisana after crossing the small arm of sea that separates Tunisia from the island. At the same time, the coast guard intercepted a 13-metre vessel that left Zawijah in Libya with 123 Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Egyptians and Sudanese on board.

34,000 people have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year

In addition, sea rescue NGOs continue to rescue hundreds of migrants lost in the Mediterranean Sea. Sea-Watch reported on Sunday that four rescue missions were carried out on Saturday. “You are a table Ocean Surveillance 3, We have 428 people including women and children, nine months pregnant and one patient with severe burns., he said on his Twitter account. L‘Ocean-VikingThe NGO SOS Méditerranée is said to have picked up 87 people, including 57 unaccompanied minors. “A rubber boat stranded in international waters off Libya”.

Between 1^{There is} Between January and July 22, 34,000 people arrived in Italy by sea, up from 25,500 in the same period in 2021 and 10,900 in 2020, the interior ministry said. The Central Mediterranean migration route is one of the most dangerous in the world. The International Organization for Migration has put the number of dead and missing there at 990 since the start of the year.

This seasonal increase in arrivals during the summer coincides with a turbulent political environment in Italy this year. Abandoned by several parties, Prime Minister Mario Draghi has resigned from his government of national unity. President Sergio Mattarella has decided to dissolve parliament and hold elections on September 25. Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, League (anti-immigration) leader Matteo Salvini lamented the visit. “411 Illegal Immigrants in Lampedusa in Few Hours”. “On September 25, Italians can finally choose change: security, courage and the return of border control”He wrote.