Despite recent attempts to decongest the reception center in Lampedusa, capacity is now three times over, and reports indicate that around 900 asylum applications are being processed.
Mild weather and warm weather have contributed to an increase in the number of illegal immigrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy in recent days. On Friday night, medics were able to provide aid to eight rickety boats off the coast of Lampedusa carrying 380 migrants, and during the day seven other boats arrived in Lampedusa with a total of 247 migrants.
Despite recent attempts to decongest the reception center in Lampedusa, it is now three times over capacity, and reports indicate that around 900 asylum applications are being processed.
The first to disembark in Lampedusa on Friday morning were 37 migrants who survived the sinking of the ship that was carrying them, an accident in which a woman from Guinea drowned. Meanwhile, in the northern Italian port of La Spezia, another 336 migrants have disembarked after being rescued by the GeoParents ship of Doctors Without Borders.
Italy is witnessing an influx of migrants, as the Italian Ministry of the Interior says that more than 36,000 people arrived in Italy this year across the Mediterranean, compared to about 9,000 during the same period in 2022.
