Italy: The crisis in Lampedusa is becoming more acute

The very small island off Italy had 21 landings in 24 hours on Monday and 19 overnight to date. During the day, the boats have continued to come. In the migrant center, which has room for just under 400 people, there were 2698 migrants on Tuesday and more and more are coming all the time.
"We try to make sure people have food and water, the most fundamental things. And it's not easy because we don't have our own drinkable fresh water here on the island," says Francesca Tombino.

Fully behind bars

The migrants arrive in small boats and are picked up by the Italian coast guard and brought ashore. They are then bussed directly to the center, which is heavily guarded by the police and military. When SVT visits the camp, it is full behind bars, with people everywhere. Mostly young men but also some women and some children.

"We are seeing a sharp increase in people from sub-Saharan Africa," says Francesca Tombino.

Yesterday, four people drowned and around 20 are missing, while reports from Libya and Tunisia say that over 60 bodies were found on the beaches yesterday and today.

Military aircraft deployed

A carabinier police officer SVT talks to says that the migrants paid 6000,68 euros per person, ie SEK 000,<> for the crossing.

The Italian government has declared a state of emergency and is calling for joint emergency preparedness from the EU. Military aircraft and boats are deployed to take the migrants to other places, on the mainland.

– It must be fully discussed now, it is time to act united within the EU. It cannot be people smugglers who decide who can come to Europe," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Italian media.

According to Italian intelligence, more than 900,000 people in Tunisia and Libya are waiting to cross the sea. The Russian Wagner Group, according to the latest information provided to the Meloni government, is fueling the population flows, as part of destabilizing Europe. The Italian government wants to see 16 years in prison for anyone who smuggles people and 30 years in prison for people dying during crossings.