IMore and more migrants and refugees from North Africa are reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa and are confronting the helpers in the initial reception center with massive logistical problems. On Friday, more than 3,250 people were counted in the so-called hotspot, as reported by the Ansa news agency. Actually, the camp inside the island is only designed for 400 people. The journalist Sergio Scandura, who specializes in migration in the Mediterranean, spoke of a record occupancy in the camp, which is guarded by the police and the military.
After no boats from Tunisia and Libya had arrived on Lampedusa at the beginning of the week due to somewhat unfavorable weather, the number of crossings then increased dramatically. According to Scandura, more than 4,500 migrants arrived within 72 hours. Most were intercepted at sea and brought ashore by Coast Guard vessels, Financial Police vessels and Carabinieri. Some reached the island independently. In addition, the German sea rescue ship “Mare*Go” took 41 people on board in distress and is now driving them to Sicily.
In order to relieve the hotspot on Lampedusa, the authorities are trying to bring as many people as possible to the mainland by ferries or police ships. There they are to be distributed to other migrant camps. Rome has long complained that Europe has left Italy alone with the many Mediterranean migrants.
