Rome
CNN
—
A document of greater than 2,000 migrants arrived on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa previously day, an Italian official stated on Saturday.
Some 1,778 individuals arrived on Friday, with one other 267 individuals touchdown on seven small boats in a single day Saturday, the official stated.
Earlier years have seen greater numbers of arrivals however by no means this early within the yr within the area of a day.
Lampedusa, not removed from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, is a significant vacation spot for migrants looking for to enter European Union international locations.
Charities rescued lots of the boats. Below new guidelines from Italy’s right-leaning authorities, NGOs face fines for breaking a code of conduct.
The variety of migrants arriving on Italy’s shores by boats greater than tripled within the first two months of 2023, in comparison with the identical interval final yr, based on Italy’s inside ministry.
On Thursday Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed the rising determine on the “political state of affairs” in Tunisia.
“900,000 individuals will arrive in Italy that Italy can not welcome,” Meloni instructed the European Council, whereas asking for collaboration with European companions to just accept migrants and assist block departures from Turkey, Libya and Tunisia.
In February, a migrant shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy killed greater than 70 individuals.
Earlier this month, Meloni wrote to European leaders, saying it was their “responsibility, ethical even earlier than political” to stop one other such tragedy, and {that a} distinction must be made between migration and refugees.
“Complicated the 2 ranges, as has usually been finished to date, is to the detriment of probably the most fragile and people in want of assist. And that’s not proper,” she stated, including the necessity for a single coverage on refugees throughout Europe.
