LAMPEDUSA (ITALY) – The arrival of 100 migrants in small boats on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Friday has raised concerns among authorities as the holding centre is already strained.
According to officials, the migrants came from Libya and they were either rescued or managed to evade the coast guard and reach the island.
Over the past three days, the number of migrants arriving from Libya has touched 1,000.
Between Wednesday and Thursday night, as many as 15 boats carrying 300 migrants arrived at Lampedusa.
The migrants have been housed in a facility known as the “hotspot”, which can accommodate only 100.
Local officials this week issued an order for 300 migrants to be shifted to another facility in Sicily.
The crowds in Lampedusa have once again brought the issue of immigrants to the forefront.
Head of the anti-immigrant League Party and former interior minister Matteo Salvini paid a visit to the hotspot on Wednesday and blamed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of being soft on migrants.
“I can’t wait to return to a government with serious people so I can close the ports again to block delinquents and reopen them to law-abiding citizens,” he said while addressing supporters.
When he was in office in the previous government, which collapsed a year ago, Salvini took the step of closing Italian ports to rescue vessels operated by charities.
The governing Democratic Party leader Enrico Borghi said Salvini was a “demagogue”, adding that the government was not going to “watch men and women drown”.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field