Rome
CNN
—
A document of greater than 2,000 migrants arrived on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa up to now day, an Italian official mentioned on Saturday.
Some 1,778 folks arrived on Friday, with one other 267 folks touchdown on seven small boats in a single day Saturday, the official mentioned.
Earlier years have seen larger numbers of arrivals however by no means this early within the yr within the area of a day.
Lampedusa, not removed from Sicily and the closest Italian island to Africa, is a serious vacation spot for migrants looking for to enter European Union international locations.
Charities rescued most of the boats. Beneath new guidelines from Italy’s right-leaning authorities, NGOs face fines for breaking a code of conduct.
The variety of migrants arriving on Italy’s shores by boats greater than tripled within the first two months of 2023, in comparison with the identical interval final yr, in keeping with Italy’s inside ministry.
On Thursday Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed the rising determine on the “political scenario” in Tunisia.
“900,000 folks will arrive in Italy that Italy can’t welcome,” Meloni informed the European Council, whereas asking for collaboration with European companions to just accept migrants and assist block departures from Turkey, Libya and Tunisia.
In February, a migrant shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy killed greater than 70 folks.
Earlier this month, Meloni wrote to European leaders, saying it was their “responsibility, ethical even earlier than political” to stop one other such tragedy, and {that a} distinction must be made between migration and refugees.
“Complicated the 2 ranges, as has usually been achieved up to now, is to the detriment of essentially the most fragile and people in want of assist. And that’s not proper,” she mentioned, including the necessity for a single coverage on refugees throughout Europe.