Since Monday, 8,141 refugees have arrived in Italy after sea journeys across the Mediterranean, including more than 5,000 yesterday alone. This emerges from information from the Italian Ministry of the Interior. The number of people arriving since the start of 2023 has increased to 123,863, which is 89 percent more than in the comparable period of 2022.
This morning, 29 more boats with almost 1,300 people on board arrived in Lampedusa. 6,762 people are in the island’s reception camp.
There were tense moments at the port of Lampedusa, where police repelled hundreds of people trying to leave the port. Red Cross volunteers tried to calm the situation and distributed bottles of water.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini sees the high number of arrivals as an “act of war” against Italy. “If 120 boats arrive at Lampedusa at the same time, it is not an isolated incident, but an act of war. “This is leading not only Lampedusa, but the entire Italian society to collapse,” said Salvini in an interview with foreign journalists. The government “will not rule out any form of intervention” to stop the influx.
Germany suspends admissions
Meanwhile, Germany has suspended the voluntary admission of refugees from Italy. As “Die Welt” learned from authorities in the German countryside, the selection processes for asylum seekers arriving in Italy under the “voluntary solidarity mechanism” were interrupted and this step was communicated to Rome in a letter.