A total of 281 migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Monday, while another 336 wait aboard two humanitarian non-governmental organization (NGO) boats for a safe port to disembark after being rescued in the Mediterranean.
The increase in the migratory flow to Lampedusa was confirmed in recent days again causes strong limitations in the reception center from the Italian island.
Fifty migrants adrift off Lampedusa await help
With a maximum capacity of 350 people, the structure currently welcomes 880 immigrantsaccording to the Italian press.
Last night, the Treasury Guard (existing police force in Italy that is under the tutelage of Economy and Finance) intercepted a first boat that was four miles from the coast and was transporting 73 migrants.
Shortly after, 20 miles away, another boat was found with 73 people on board.
In turn, the Italian Coast Guard intercepted and disembarked several small boats carrying Tunisian, Pakistani, Syrian and Sudanese immigrants, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
Another 57 migrants arrived by their own means and without the help of the authorities at the Cala Pisana beach in Lampedusa.
In the last 24 hours, humanitarian NGO ships sailing in the Mediterranean have carried out new rescue operations.
The ship Mare Jonio, belonging to the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, rescued 29 people, while the ship belonging to the German NGO Sea Watch, which already had 222 people on board after several rescues, managed to rescue 85 migrants who were traveling in a precarious boat which, according to the migrants themselves, was almost overtaken by Libyan maritime patrols.
The migrants fear being intercepted by the Libyan authorities and then being returned to Libya, which is not considered a safe haven.
“Now the rescued people are at Sea Watch 3, where the crew is taking care of them. We have 307 people on board”, announced the German NGO through social networks.
In recent times, and given the lack of response from the Maltese authorities to requests from humanitarian rescue ships, Italy has taken over the entire flow of migrants from the central Mediterranean routeone of the deadliest migratory routes, leaving Libya, Algeria and Tunisia towards Italian and Maltese territories.
Since the beginning of the year, and according to data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior updated until June 3, 20,028 migrants have arrived on Italian shores, a figure that, in the same period last year, stood at 14,962.
Source: Observadora
