The sea is calm and the descent of immigrants to the island of Lampedusa continues. More or less large boats have sailed from Tunisia and Libya to the coast of Italy in the last few hours. Thirty-two, with a total of 1,275 people, landed on the small island of Sicily within a few hours. The issue of immigration continues to be at the center of the debate, with Home Secretary Matteo Piantedosi reiterating that “hospitality cannot be unlimited” and announcing a new regulatory intervention that “will include multiple points”.
Nonstop landing on Lampedusa
The last to arrive, in chronological order, were four Tunisians who arrived directly at the commercial wharf and were blocked by the police; Another 16 people were tracked near the gendarmerie barracks and reported that they were transferred ashore by a Libyan fishing boat and then set sail again. All immigrants coming to Lampedusa are taken to the hot police station in the first place. Then the transfer procedure begins. Yes, the situation is crowded, but according to official sources, there is no particular case of complexity. “We are tired of hearing and reading that the Lampedusa hotspot has collapsed. Thanks to the efforts of the police department and the governor’s office, the hotspot is not a problem. It is full but orderly. The Red Cross manages. From the Agrigento Police Station, the police at very high rhythms and sequentially applying identification and photo signals, more than a thousand a day. They say that it tires the person who comes too much.
Meanwhile, 3 men and 1 woman, 3 men and 1 woman, of the Ivory Coast and Guinea origins of the boat, which sank off the Tunisian coast and were carrying 41 people, were heard from the wreckage. “We survived – they say – because we found 4 bottles of water and half a box of biscuits in the drifting boat”.
Almost a hundred thousand landings in Italy in 2023
According to the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior, from January 1 to August 10, 94,792 migrants landed in Italy (up from 45,178 in 2022 on the same date). 9,857 of these are unaccompanied minors.
The International Organization for Migration’s Missing migrants project confirms that the Central Mediterranean route is the most dangerous, with more than 22,000 deaths since 2014. About 3,472 people died or disappeared in 2023 alone.
Piantedosi: “Hospitality cannot be unlimited”
Speaking in the “Mediterranean – Blue Civilization” magazine in Sabaudia, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi returned to the issue of immigrants. “A gruesome episode in Rovereto (reference refers to the deadly attack suffered by the dead Iris Setti) is unique in its dynamics, but also affirms that hospitality must be sustainable and not unlimited”. According to the owner of Viminale, “we must respect our great traditions of hospitality, integration, the protection of human rights and the protection of personal freedom, but we must make an additional effort to strike a balance between these traditions and the need to ensure security and safety of citizens”. And it’s announcing a regulatory intervention that “will include points” for the coming months.
At the same time, Piantedosi rejects criticism of the aid system. “The state’s maritime search and rescue apparatus has nothing to learn from anyone, not even private organizations. But no one has removed NGO ships from the quadrant, 5-6 of them are around. Organizing is one thing. Such a sensitive issue, another is to have an ideological and biased vision”.
Keep reading on Today.it…
Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
