The Italian coast guard has discovered a dead newborn on a migrant boat off the coast of Lampedusa island. The boat was heading for the island, the Italian news agency Ansa reported on Saturday. The dead baby was found during the rescue operation. It was born during the voyage across the Mediterranean and died shortly after birth. This week, a five-month-old boy drowned during a rescue operation off Lampedusa after a boat coming from North Africa with migrants on board capsized.
The situation on Lampedusa is getting worse and worse. This week alone, more than 6,000 refugees have arrived on the Mediterranean island – more than the population of Lampedusa. The island’s local council declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
Lampedusa residents protested on Saturday against plans to build a new tent camp to house migrants. “I have two children at home,” said one protester. “For the past few years, I haven’t cared about this issue.” But now he believes he has to protect his children because he doesn’t know what will happen to Lampedusa in the future. “Lampedusa says stop!” shouted another. “We don’t want tent camps. This message is aimed at Europe and the Italian government. The residents of Lampedusa are tired.”
Lampedusa is currently being visited by numerous smuggler boats coming from North Africa. The Mediterranean island is only around 140 kilometers east of the Tunisian coast. Because of its proximity to North Africa, it is currently bearing the brunt of illegal migration. This year, almost 126,000 migrants entered Italy illegally, almost twice as many as in the same period in 2022.
The situation in Lampedusa is increasingly becoming a problem for the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which has been in power since October 2022. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has repeatedly complained about a lack of solidarity from other EU states. Meloni called on the EU on Friday to work together and “if necessary with a naval operation” to stop migrants from crossing the Mediterranean, the right-wing politician said in a video message on Friday evening. According to Meloni’s idea, people in North Africa should be stopped from leaving the sea. Such a mission must start “immediately”.
Von der Leyen travels to Italy
According to an EU representative, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will accept Meloni’s invitation and visit the island on Sunday. Meloni invited von der Leyen to Lampedusa “to make himself personally aware of the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves.” On Saturday, a spokesman for von der Leyen told the German Press Agency on the sidelines of an event in Hanau that the head of the Commission would first travel to Rome on Saturday and later to Lampedusa with Meloni. A short time later, another commission spokesman announced via platform X that the trip to the island was planned for Sunday.
Meloni sees the EU as having a duty to support Italy. She therefore asked the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to put the migration issue on the agenda of the EU summit in October. The head of government emphasized the importance of the planned agreement with Tunisia. According to them, the agreed financial resources must be transferred as quickly as possible in order to accelerate the deal. Tunisia is one of the most important transit countries for migrants on their way to Europe.
The EU Commission is currently planning a migration agreement with the North African country. In return for millions in financial aid, Tunisia should take greater action against smugglers and illegal crossings in order to reduce the number of people leaving for Europe. Meloni said the Mediterranean country and Europe could not accommodate the enormous number of people. “The migration pressure that Italy has been experiencing since the beginning of this year is unsustainable,” said the right-wing politician. She intends to take “extraordinary measures”. The maximum length of detention in deportation detention centers should be increased. Meloni announced that the measures should be decided in a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Germany has stopped voluntarily accepting migrants
Germany has stopped the voluntary admission of migrants, but according to Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, is fundamentally ready to do so. It is “of course clear that we will fulfill our solidarity obligations,” said the SPD politician on Friday evening on ARD. On Wednesday, the federal government announced that it had suspended the voluntary European solidarity mechanism for accepting refugees with Italy because the country refused to take back refugees in Germany in accordance with the EU’s Dublin rules. According to the solidarity mechanism, Germany has agreed to help EU states that are particularly heavily burdened by incoming migrants. In general, people who were first registered in Italy, for example, must remain there.