Italy: migrants in an inhuman situation in Lampedusa

Migrants who crossed the Mediterranean by boat line up behind a barrier in Lampedusa, Italy, Friday, October 1, 2021. AP - Renata Brito

Text by: RFI Follow

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Following recent massive landings of migrants in Lampedusa, the island's only hotspot hosted 2,000 migrants, mainly Egyptians and Tunisians, in appalling hygienic and sanitary conditions, with a capacity of 350 places.

The problem is just beginning to unravel. 

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With our correspondent in the region,

Old, filthy foam mattresses piled up on the floor, inside and outside buildings, in stifling heat.

Mountains of smelly garbage bags, left abandoned in the corridors and toilets, infested with cockroaches.

Migrants positive for Covid-19, not separated from children and pregnant women… This is how the situation in the Lampedusa hotspot had been for days.

A Navy ship yesterday transferred a few hundred people who will be distributed to other reception centers.

Of the 2,000 people present, for a reception capacity of 350 places, 600 among the most vulnerable were brought on Saturday July 9 on board the military ship San Marco to be transferred to other reception centres. 

Dormono sulla propria urina con servizi igienici implosi e blatte ovunque.

2100 persone oggi nell'hotspot di #Lampedusa tra cui donne incinte e bambini a contatto con casi covid accertati.

Non è emergenza sbarchi, è una colpevole incapacità gestionale.

E tutto ciò è disumano.

pic.twitter.com/5DnTbG4ZFH

— Erasmo Palazzotto (@EPalazzotto) July 8, 2022

The operations will continue this Sunday, according to the directives of the Ministry of the Interior, alerted by representatives of the Democratic Party who transmitted photos and videos showing the inhuman living conditions.

All the more shocking since the problem is linked not so much to flows which increase during the summer, but to delays in the management of disembarked migrants.

To date, and since January 1, 30,866 migrants have landed in southern Italy (40% of them in Lampedusa) compared to 22,778 during the same period in 2021. 

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• Italy

• Immigration

• International Migrations