ROME — With the return of calm seas, migrant smugglers launched a rating of boats from Tunisia in the course of the weekend and their passengers reached a tiny Italian island by the tons of. A physique was present in one of many boats, Italian information experiences mentioned, whereas survivors of two rescues mentioned 23 individuals had been lacking.
Dozens of the migrants sat Monday morning close to Lampedusa’s port awaiting switch to the island’s overcrowded shelter or finally to Sicily or the Italian mainland.
Earlier Monday, a fishing boat off Lampedusa aided a distressed migrant boat that contained 34 folks and a physique, the Italian information company ANSA mentioned. Survivors reportedly instructed rescuers that some 20 fellow passengers had been lacking from the boat, which had set out from a Tunisian port on Saturday evening.
A couple of hours later, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 42 migrants from a ship foundering off Lampedusa after setting out Saturday evening from Tunisia, ANSA mentioned. Survivors instructed rescuers that three males had been lacking.
The Italian Coast Guard, when contacted by The AP, declined to touch upon the reported rescues.
On Sunday, with seas calm after 4 days of tough circumstances, a complete of 640 migrants reached Lampedusa, whereas greater than 200 got here ashore from a number of boats on Monday. In lots of {cases}, Italian coast guard or different navy vessels took on migrants after they approached the island, together with transferring the 34 from the fishing boat.
Final week, Italian authorities used business ferries and navy vessels to switch among the migrants who had been rescued earlier from Lampedusa to Sicily or to the Italian mainland. These transfers introduced Lampedusa’s migrant middle lastly under its roughly 400-person capability. However with the slew of boats arriving beginning on Sunday, the variety of migrants there shortly swelled to almost 1,100, and authorities had been scrambling anew to make association for extra transfers off the island.
Though far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has led a crackdown each on smugglers and on the charity vessels that steadily rescue passengers from unseaworthy boats launched from Tunisia, Libya and Turkey, migrants maintain setting out on the damaging voyage within the Central Mediterranean in hopes of discovering work or relations in Europe.
In keeping with figures supplied by the Italian Inside Ministry, by Monday, greater than 36,600 migrants had arrived in Italy because the begin of the 12 months. That is greater than 4 occasions the quantity for a similar interval in every of the 2 earlier years.
Italy denies the asylum bids of many of the migrants as a result of they’re fleeing poverty, not warfare or persecution. However since barely a handful of nations have repatriation accords with Italy, the migrants who lose asylum bids usually keep in Italy for years in a form of authorized limbo, or attempt to make their approach to northern European nations.
Italy’s pleas to fellow European Union nations to tackle among the migrants have largely gone unheeded for years now.
___
Comply with AP’s protection of world migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration