Italy calls on EU partners to show solidarity as migrant arrivals pick
Max Civili
Press TV, Rome
After a relatively quiet time on the Lampedusa island with only a few tens of migrant boat landings per day recorded last year, the number of asylum seekers arriving by sea in Italy has started to pick up again over the past months, to the point that Italian authorities are alarmed by developments in the area.
Around 13,000 people seeking asylum have arrived in Lampedusa by sea since the start of 2021, up from about 4,000 in the same period last year.
Over 2,000 migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa between Sunday and Monday. Following the arrivals, the EU's Home Affairs Commissioner called on member states to show solidarity with Italy and support the relocation of migrants. However a European Commission spokesperson has said that despite contacts with several member states no specific pledge has been received.
At an ongoing conference organized by the Portuguese duty presidency of the EU in Lisbon, Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has called on Brussels to find a long-term structural solution on how to manage asylum seekers.
The minister has urged the activation of concrete, solid solidarity mechanisms as well as a shared strategy to counter the smuggling of human beings and illegal immigration.
According to Italian intelligence sources there is an estimated 900,000 migrants in Libya kept in appalling living conditions in detention centers where abuse and torture are rife. About 1,000 people trying to reach Europe by sea have been returned to the North-African country since the start of May.
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