The Italian island of Lampedusa faces a record arrival of migrants

At the gates of Europe, Lampedusa is out of breath. Landings are incessant. A record number of more than 7,000 people have arrived on the Italian island in the past two days.

Migrants hosted at the operational center of Lampedusa, Italian island, called Hotspot, September 14, 2023. © ALESSANDRO SERRANO / AFP

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We have reached a point of no return and the island is in crisis ». These are the words of the mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, to describe the gravity of the situation on the ground in recent hours and justify his decision, Wednesday evening, to declare a state of emergency. At the same time, it calls on the Italian state and Europe to launch "support and rapid evacuation operations," reports our correspondent in Rome, Blandine Hugonnet.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, more than 7,000 people, leaving Libya and Tunisia in hundreds of boats, arrived spontaneously or via the coast guard in the port of Lampedusa. Never seen in such a short time on the small island where the situation is described as "chaotic" and "apocalyptic" by the Italian press and the priest of the island. Tensions erupted between exiles and police on Wednesday night at the port and the Lampedusa registration centre is overflowing. Several thousand are being cared for by the Italian Red Cross while waiting for planned transfers to the mainland, the "hotspot" hosts ten times more migrants than available places.

This number of crossings is exponential, explains Carla Melki, deputy director of operations for the organization SOS Méditerranée, contacted by RFI: "We have a doubling of the number of people who attempt the crossing, at least according to the figures that are known. There is always some of this data that remains unknown. We also saw many more shipwrecks. This summer alone, there have been at least 4 shipwrecks.

For her, these massive arrivals can be explained by "a Tunisian context that has deteriorated in recent months", while summer is usually the period conducive to departures to Europe.

Italian government calls for European action

Several Italian ministers reacted, such as Matteo Salvini, seeing in these massive arrivals "an act of war" against Italy. The head of Italian diplomacy Antonio Tajani warns of a migration crisis that will only worsen in the coming months. All are launching with one voice a new call for European action so as not to leave Italy alone in the face of this emergency. For the head of the far-right government, Giorgia Meloni, the situation in Lampedusa confirms that the priority is to prevent arrivals in Italy rather than manage the distribution of asylum seekers between European countries.

Located less than 150 km from the Tunisian coast, Lampedusa is one of the first stopover points for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. According to the UN migration agency, more than 2,000 people have died this year crossing between North Africa, Italy and Malta. The latest known victim is a five-month-old baby, who reportedly fell into the water early Wednesday while part of a group being brought ashore.

To listen alsoFrance: in Briançon, a refuge that overflows in the face of migrant arrivals

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• Italy
• International migration
• Immigration