The psychological threshold of one hundred thousand landings in one year has been exceeded in the last few hours. This was announced by the Viminale itself, according to which 100,354 migrants had arrived on the Italian coasts since January 1st. It was well above last year’s reading when the number in question stopped at 64,055 on December 21st. Number already considered worrying as it is well above the 33,867 landed in 2020.
The numbers have never been higher than they have been since 2017
When analyzing the migration phenomenon, there is a before and after of the 2016/2017 biennium. In those two years, Italy far exceeded the 100,000 people who disembarked. In particular, in 2016 the number of irregular migrants entering Italy reached 181,436, while in 2017 it decreased to 119,310.
But only because the interior ministry at the time has now taken action at the political level Marco Minnit, it was decided to intervene. First with the so-called Code of Conduct for non-governmental organization, secondly with the signing of the memorandum with Libya. Actions that in the second half of this year began to somewhat reduce the number of landings.
From then on, it was hoped that the 100,000 mark would not be reached again. A psychological threshold aimed at remembering what happened during the most difficult two years of managing immigration. The more than 250,000 migrants who landed in 24 months between 2016 and 2017 actually shut down the system hospitality.
The “never again” then materialized for the next four years. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of units even remained well below 50,000 units. Just in 2019 the historical lowat least if you consider the last decade, with only 11,471 landed migrants.
Then from 2020 a new unstoppable rise. But the data is still a long way from the hundred-thousand mark. Suffice it to say that 2021, for example, ended with a worrying number but still ended up below the 70,000 mark.
Which countries are seeing the biggest increases in arrivals?
The year 2022 therefore marked a return to a situation very similar to the 2016/2017 biennium. There are various political factors, internal and international, that have been influenced and are being examined by the current Executive Branch.
But just looking at the numbers, it becomes clear that the most worrying situations for Rome come mainly from two countries: Egypt and Afghanistan. In the latter case, the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021 certainly had an impact. In fact, more than a year has passed since then, but it is equally true that the repercussions of similar political crises in the migration area usually manifest themselves at the interval of months.
Thousands of migrants set off fleeing Koran students, and many, having crossed Iran and Turkey, managed to enter our country via the Turkish route of immigration. That is, the route taken by hundreds of ships from the Anatolian peninsula to eastern Sicily or Calabria.
So if a thousand Afghans arrived in Italy in 2021, according to Viminale, it will be of the order of seven thousand this year. Regarding Egypt, on the other hand, the number of migrants who arrived in 2021 increased from 8,352 to over 20,000 reported in 2022. A significant increase that could prompt the government to bring the migration issue to the fore in the dialogue with Cairo.
Egyptians have also surpassed Tunisians (still with 17,830 units) this year among the nationalities most represented among migrants who landed in Italy. It is also worth noting that the number of arrivals has doubled since then Bangladeshwent from 7,824 in 2021 to 14,381 in 2022.