Mediterranean Sea
Hundreds of migrants reach Italy
Refugees are evacuated from a rubber boat. (Archive) photo
© Fabian Heinz/Sea-Eye/dpa
Almost as many migrants reached Italy by sea this year as in all of last year. Some boats manage the dangerous crossing to Europe, others are dependent on rescuers.
Migrants have been trying to reach Italy for years, particularly from the coasts of the North African countries of Libya and Tunisia. According to the Italian government, almost 103,000 people (as of August 18) reached the country on boats this year – more than twice as many as in the same period last year and almost as many as in the whole of last year. Again and again there are devastating accidents in the Mediterranean with many deaths.
The civil rescuers are a thorn in the side of the Italian right-wing government. The authorities keep assigning them to distant ports. Sea-Watch sounded the alarm on Saturday that the initially assigned port in Trapani in north-western Sicily was inaccessible for the crew due to a lack of fuel and the drinking water was running out. Finally, the NGO announced that it had received permission to bring the migrants to the island of Lampedusa, which is much closer.
114 people rescued in 72 hours
In international waters between Malta and Crete, helpers from the German organization Sea-Eye rescued 114 people who were traveling on plastic boats within 72 hours, the organization announced. Four people on the third boat found were unconscious and were taken care of and stabilized on the rescue ship. The ship set course for Malta, but initially continued to wait for a port to be assigned on Sunday.
Several boats made the dangerous crossing from Libya or Tunisia to Lampedusa under their own steam. During the night and early Sunday morning, several smaller groups of migrants reached the island’s landing stages, the Ansa news agency reported. More than 1,000 migrants were to be taken by ferry to Trapani and Porto Empedocle in Sicily on Sunday in order to relieve the reception center on Lampedusa. The small island is located in the Mediterranean Sea south of mainland Italy between the Tunisian and Maltese coasts.
Report: Distribution according to new criteria
According to a media report, in view of the large number of arrivals, the Italian Ministry of the Interior is planning to organize the distribution of people in the country according to new criteria. As a result, there could be more transfers to less populated regions like Sardinia and Basilicata, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported on Sunday.
In the eastern Mediterranean, the Greek coast guard has rescued dozens of migrants in recent days, including off the island of Lesbos. The Greek Ministry of Migration recently registered a significant increase in the number of people who were able to translate from the Turkish Aegean coast to Greek islands.