The southern Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea is again being flooded with refugees, with around 1,200 migrants landing on the island between Sicily and Tunisia since Friday alone, authorities said.
On Monday, 121 migrants arrived in Lampedusa on two boats. According to the information, there were Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Egyptians, Ivorians and Syrians on board. They said they paid up to 7,000 euros for the crossing.
Eleven landings involving a total of almost 500 people were reported on Sunday. On Saturday, 127 migrants were brought to Lampedusa by the coast guard and a ship from the EU border protection agency Frontex. Ten ship landings with 469 people on board were reported on Friday.
Shipwreck survivors arrive in Lampedusa
Two children died on Sunday in a shipwreck in Maltese waters, 53 nautical miles off the coast of Lampedusa. A Maltese rescue helicopter evacuated a pregnant woman and a seriously injured man, while an Italian coast guard ship picked up the remaining 15 survivors. In the meantime they also arrived in Lampedusa.
Italy brings migrants back to Albania
Despite previous defeats in court, Italy is now once again taking migrants to a reception center in Albania. The Italian naval ship “Cassiopea” took on board 49 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea near Lampedusa to take them there, the Interior Ministry in Rome announced on Sunday. The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is thus resuming its Albania plan, despite the fact that the legal situation has not yet been fully clarified and an open decision by the European Court of Justice. She wants the non-EU state to decide on asylum applications from certain migrants who, from Rome’s perspective, come from safe countries of origin.
Migrants repeatedly make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. Since the beginning of January, 1,750 migrants have arrived in Italy, compared to 1,298 in the same period last year in 2024. A 60 percent drop in the number of migrants was reported in 2024 compared to 2023. 66,615 people reached Italy by sea via the Mediterranean Sea.
Source: Krone
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