More than 2,000 irregular immigrants arrived in Italy in the last 24 hours
As reported by the Italian agency ANSA, the arrival of immigrants to the island of Lampedusa, which is the closest point of Italy to Africa, continues. A total of 1,778 irregular migrants were reported to have arrived on the island yesterday in 43 boats and motorboats, and 267 more migrants were rescued and brought by boats belonging to the Italian security forces and non-governmental organizations outside the island at midnight connecting the Friday with Saturday. Thus, the number of irregular migrants arriving on the island in the last 24 hours amounts to 2,045.
According to data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the number of irregular immigrants who arrived in Italy by sea between January 1 and March 23 was 20,379, and this figure was 6,518 in the same period of the year. past.
For his part, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who attended the EU Leaders Summit in Brussels yesterday and the day before, called attention to the criticality of the financial situation in Tunisia and stated that 900,000 people were at risk of crossing from Africa to Europe.
In recent years, intense activity has been observed in the irregular migratory flow to Europe and irregular migratory routes in the Central Mediterranean.
Migration activity intensifies in the central Mediterranean on days when sea and weather conditions are good.
European non-governmental organizations often rescue irregular migrants asking for help at sea, rather than European government officials. These NGOs have difficulties in evacuating the irregular migrants they rescue from time to time because the EU member states do not provide them with a ‘safe haven’.
The first place where immigrants who can cross the Mediterranean or are rescued on their own set foot in Europe is the island of Lampedusa, which is the closest land part of Italy to North Africa.
A large number of irregular immigrants die every year trying to cross the Mediterranean, due to the capsizing of the boat or the lack of air and water due to overcrowding in the boats. (AA)