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ALESSANDRO SERRANO/AFP via Getty |
Thousands of illegal migrants delivered by people smugglers from the North African coast landed on Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa this past week, sparking a warning Sunday from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the “future of Europe is at stake” if the human flood tide is allowed to continue.
At a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to the besieged island, AFP reports Meloni said the European Union (E.U.) needed to come together to face the challenges of uncontrolled migration with common purpose.
It is “the future that Europe wants for itself that is at stake here, because the future of Europe depends on Europe’s capacity to face major challenges,” Meloni warned.
Between Monday and Wednesday, an estimated 8,500 people — more than the island’s entire local population — arrived aboard 199 boats, according to the U.N. migration agency.
Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland which has long made it a target for illegal arrivals coming by boat.
“Irregular immigration is a European challenge that needs a European response,” von der Leyen said, calling on other members of the bloc to take in some of the migrants but declining to address the source of the crisis.
The Italian Red Cross, which runs the overcrowded Lampedusa migration centre, said Sunday 1,500 migrants remained there despite having a capacity for just 400. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Image Source: ANSA |
After years of a surge in migrant attempts to make it from the Mideast-North Africa region which goes back to at least 2015, which was a record year for such crossings, this week witnessed a truly unprecedented first.
Starting Wednesday and continuing through the end of the week, a giant flotilla of ramshackle boats packed with mostly African migrants surrounded and inundated the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, off Sicily. AP reporters described that it happened almost in a "procession" and shocked tourists and locals alike.
The small Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving on its shores, its mayor said, after thousands of people landed from North Africa on flimsy boats over the past two days https://t.co/gXC2bM5CSI pic.twitter.com/2nCtdikyxm
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 15, 2023
Scenes on Thursday into Friday showed chaos erupting given the tiny island only has a population of about 6,500 people, and the number of migrants arriving by boat within only a 24 hour period has been tallied at around 7,000.
The flotilla is believed to have set out from Tunisia, and this particular island is easier to reach given it sits geographically closer to the African coast than it does the Italian mainland. --->READ MORE HEREFollow link below to a relevant story:
+++++Italy’s Meloni Vows ‘Extraordinary Measures’ to Deal with Migrant Crisis, Renews Call for Naval Blockade+++++
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