Aftermath of the “Ocean Viking” case: questions about the number of migrants in Italy

The humanitarian boat “Ocean Viking”, off the Italian coast on July 6, 2020 (illustration image).

AP - Fabio Peonia

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Migrants rescued by the

Ocean Viking

were eventually welcomed to France after a standoff with Italy.

The refusal of this country to let the humanitarian ship dock will have consequences for relations between the two countries, said Paris, which has tightened its border controls.

Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Italian government, said she was surprised by the French reaction which she described as incomprehensible and unjustified, explaining also that her country has welcomed nearly 90,000 migrants this year.

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So what about the actual number of arrivals in Italy?

Is this number increasing?

In 2022, the country hosted exactly 88,100 as of November 7.

This is an increase compared to last year since in the whole of 2021, 67,040 migrants arrived in Italy.

Which was double the year before.

Bilateral agreement

But that's half as much as in 2017, when at the time there were nearly 120,000 arrivals.

And it is there that Italy signs a bilateral agreement with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez el-Serraj to limit departures, and that the European Union begins to train and finance the Libyan coast guard.

The result is tangible, only 11,471 migrants arrived by sea in 2019, mainly Tunisians.

Yet it was that same year that

Matteo Salvini

, Deputy Prime Minister, held a rescue ship six days off the coast.

He is still being prosecuted for kidnapping people in this case.

Arrivals increase

Since then, arrivals have increased again, many from Tunisia.

And we can point to the visible impact of the 2020 protests against the economic crisis and corruption.

By triggering

the crisis of these days

, Giorgia Meloni begins a standoff with the European Union.

She wants an EU agreement with the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, similar to that with Turkey, ignoring the instability that reigns in Libya.

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To read also: Immigration: Georgia Meloni's Italy is directly opposed to its European neighbors

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