Italy's Lampedusa pleads for help after thousands of migrant arrivals

LAMPEDUSA, Italy, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The small Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving on its shores, its mayor said on Thursday, after thousands of people landed from North Africa on flimsy boats over the past two days.

Lampedusa sits in the Mediterranean between Tunisia, Malta and the larger Italian island of Sicily and is a first port of call for many migrants seeking to reach the European Union.

"In the past 48 hours, around 7,000 people have arrived in Lampedusa, which has always welcomed them with open arms," mayor Filippo Mannino told Italy's RTL 102.5 radio.

"However, we have now reached a point of no return and the island is in crisis," he said.

"Europe and the Italian state must step in immediately with a rapid support operation and swift transfer of people."

The island normally has a population of just over 6,000.

A total of 387 migrants disembarked from nine craft on Thursday, Italian news agency Agi reported, adding that they were believed to have sailed from the Tunisian port of Sfax.

The arrivals are a headache for Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government which took power last October with a promise to crack down on immigration.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini decried a lack of support from fellow EU members, calling the arrivals "an act of war" and "the death of Europe".

Meloni said at a conference in Budapest that some legal migration could benefit Europe economically, but could not be a solution to the continent's demographic crisis.

The EU's migration commissioner, Ylva Johansson, said on social media platform X: "We are seeing a really challenging situation in Lampedusa. This is a European matter that needs a European response."

BAKING SUN
Lampedusa has a migrant reception centre with an official capacity of only 400. It was housing an estimated 4,000 people on Wednesday. Dozens of migrants jumped the fence to escape the overcrowded facility, where a scuffle broke out.

Authorities are organising some transfers to Sicily to ease the situation. Migrants could be seen on the quayside, with towels over their heads to shield themselves from the late summer sun, as they waited to board ferries.

Naby Bangoura, from Guinea, said after his arrival on a boat from Tunisia: "Italy is a good place, we have been well received and given things to eat."

He said he had been at sea for two days after setting sail on a boat carrying around 35 people.

Preliminary data from Spain, another country on the EU's southern flank, showed the number of migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands more than trebled to 2,891 people in the first two weeks of September.

Spain says instability in Senegal is one of the factors fuelling the increase.

The EU border agency FRONTEX said: "The Central Mediterranean remains the most active route into the EU this year, with almost 114,300 detections reported by national authorities in the first eight months of 2023. This is the highest total on this route for this period since 2016."

It added: "Increased migratory pressure may persist in the coming months with smugglers offering lower prices departing from Libya and Tunisia amid fierce competition among the criminal groups."

Matteo Villa, a migration data analysis expert from the ISPI think-tank in Milan, said Lampedusa was under particular pressure because 90% of migrant boats in the last three months came from Tunisia, the closest African country, and because there are fewer search and rescue missions intercepting migrants at sea.

Meloni's government has restricted the activities of charity rescue boats, impounding their vessels, banning them from conducting multiple rescues and making them travel longer distances to disembark migrants.

Italy has sought to improve ties with Tunisia and in July Tunis and the European Union signed a pact aimed at stemming migrant flows but that has had no immediate impact.

A government source said the pact was still not being applied and Rome was working with the EU to accelerate procedures that would allow it to take effect.

People will do what people do.

Cry more, phggot.

Go fist yourself kunt

Time to ravage ALL italian biches..

Why are there so many pussy ass men on the misc? Holy fuk

Just tell them "devi tornare indietro".

Put them on a boat and send them back. Why is that so hard?

7000 illegals land in two days on an Italian island that has only 6000 population? Simple solution: bring the Italian residents to the mainland, set them up with help. Leave the 7000 young male, adult illegals and future arrivals to "flourish" in their new island home. Ded srs. They've escaped the problems of where they came from, right? Now they're safe and will surely transform the small island into Mediterranean Wakanda.

Part 2 of plan: after 2/3rds of the illegals have killed each other, deport the rest for the mass murders they committed. Bring the Italian residents back.

This.

I don't see how this is an issue...

I mean.... go back, bye!

commenting on another countries immigration problem but

Location
Arizona, United


jbol... ****ing idiot

its not that easy, people are always against immigration. The problem is the governments of Europe and America are infested with jews who bring them in anyways, because jews love immigration. They stick out like a sore thumb in a homogenous White nation and get expelled everytime, without exception.

A fresh 2k illegals this morning in TX

BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to ignore Biden admin messaging of “do not come”, & do not fear the promised “consequences” for crossing illegally. Videos from source in MX & our FOX drone team on US side.

it's what happens when you don't enforce your border

I think we were all expecting more from Giorgia Meloni

I mean.... AZ is the border of a huge land mass, this is a tiny italian ISLAND. It's not like they can roach scatter the way they do here.

Look at all those women and children that need help....

Says the guy who sees no value in anthropology.

no nazi but holy chit i lold irl

Good. Let Europe start suffering from astronaut crime from their offspring like we've been dealing with for decades.

There's a reason why asia or russia never allows black immigrants.

So much good can be done with providing these ****hole countries with plan b pills. I would willingly pay tax for that.

Illegal immigrants are always like 85-90% younger males. Why the **** is that?

Yeah, gotta say they need to round up every one and send them back on the boats they showed up in. If they don't want to leave, then just shoot them for invading.

This isn't "humanitarian". It's invasion and an attempted takeover. The fact 90% of them are male tells you everything you need to know.

Yet it'd be called "colonization" or "gentrification" if races were reversed.

Let that sink in. And whites are a global minority. Crazy that people are programmed like this.

That sloot's campaign was literally built on stopping this chit. She won, and it got even worse. It's over for Europe ded srs.

Why do you think there has been such a massive effort to "empower women" and push them to the front of every aspect of society?

(I know that's not Italy but it's the same all over Europe. White liberal women are the most retarded group of people in the world)

LOL

They made it...now what? Government will make them work...

Italy invaded by Nigerians?

That thirst for BBC LOL.

The white replacement theory is sounding less and less crazy every day.

What happened to the Italian people to just let something like this happen???