Post by Jaga on Sept 16, 2023 5:24:51 GMT -7
This is such a sad story. The island cannot hold anymore immigrants, but people are still pouring in. when they are able to be in Europe they can go anywhere.
this massive migration is unprecedenced.
www.cnn.com/2023/09/15/europe/italy-lampedusa-migrant-crisis-intl/index.html
Lampedusa has seen an influx of migrants with 7,000 people arriving in two days, prompting its mayor and the United Nations refugee agency to warn the Italian island is becoming overwhelmed.
The island – whose population is under 7,000 – has long been a first port of call for people crossing from north Africa and has been a flashpoint in Europe’s migration crisis.
Mayor Filippo Mannino on Thursday said the migrant crisis had reached a “point of no return.”
“In the past 48 hours, around 7,000 people have arrived on my island, an island that has always welcomed and saved in its arms,” Mannino told Italy’s RTL 102.5 radio.
“Now we have reached a point of no return where the role played by this small rock in the middle of the Mediterranean has been put into crisis by the dramatic nature of this phenomenon.”
The figure was also confirmed to CNN by the country’s interior ministry.
The UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino, Chiara Cardoletti, said Friday the situation on Lampedusa is “critical,” and moving people off the island is “an absolute priority.”
Cardoletti said that “urgent action” was underway to “bring the island back to normality” and that authorities had transferred around 5,000 people off the island in the last 28 hours.
Many of the latest people to arrive have fled political instability in Tunisia. In previous years, most came from Libya and had been rescued by NGO charity vessels and Italian rescuers rather than reaching the island, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The group now fears numbers will rise even further following the catastrophic floods in Libya.
this massive migration is unprecedenced.
www.cnn.com/2023/09/15/europe/italy-lampedusa-migrant-crisis-intl/index.html
Lampedusa has seen an influx of migrants with 7,000 people arriving in two days, prompting its mayor and the United Nations refugee agency to warn the Italian island is becoming overwhelmed.
The island – whose population is under 7,000 – has long been a first port of call for people crossing from north Africa and has been a flashpoint in Europe’s migration crisis.
Mayor Filippo Mannino on Thursday said the migrant crisis had reached a “point of no return.”
“In the past 48 hours, around 7,000 people have arrived on my island, an island that has always welcomed and saved in its arms,” Mannino told Italy’s RTL 102.5 radio.
“Now we have reached a point of no return where the role played by this small rock in the middle of the Mediterranean has been put into crisis by the dramatic nature of this phenomenon.”
The figure was also confirmed to CNN by the country’s interior ministry.
The UN refugee agency’s (UNHCR) Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino, Chiara Cardoletti, said Friday the situation on Lampedusa is “critical,” and moving people off the island is “an absolute priority.”
Cardoletti said that “urgent action” was underway to “bring the island back to normality” and that authorities had transferred around 5,000 people off the island in the last 28 hours.
Many of the latest people to arrive have fled political instability in Tunisia. In previous years, most came from Libya and had been rescued by NGO charity vessels and Italian rescuers rather than reaching the island, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The group now fears numbers will rise even further following the catastrophic floods in Libya.