Nearly 1,500 migrants arrived in the last 24 hours on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the closest to the North African coast and whose reception center is crowded with more than 2,000 people, despite having a capacity for about 300.
The 1,465 people who were traveling in 34 boats had to be helped by the boats of the Finance Guard and the Port Authority, while a boat with 131 migrants was able to reach one of the coves of Lampedusa.
The arrivals of the last hours, which are added to those of the previous days, have now led to 2,110 people being overcrowded in the reception center, who will gradually be transferred to other locations.
Migrants continue to arrive in Italy and so far this year, 7,741 people have disembarked on its coasts, compared to 4,263 in the same period the previous year.
Meanwhile, the policy implemented by the government of the far-right Giorgia Meloni on the rescue NGO ships in the Central Mediterranean continues to be applied, which assigns far-flung ports to the Sicilian Channel area, forcing the vessels to sail several days and removes them from the rescue areas.
At this moment, the Life Support of the NGO Emergency, with 15 people rescued in two operations during the early hours of Thursday, is heading to the port of Civitavecchia, in Lazio.
The Aita Mari, of the Spanish NGO Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario, also sails there, after the Italian authorities authorized it to disembark after rescuing 31 migrants who were on a wooden boat.
On the other hand, the Ocean Viking ship of the NGO Sos Mediterranee will arrive this weekend at the port of Ravenna (northeast) after four days of navigation and with 84 rescued on board, including 58 unaccompanied minors and 26 men.
The NGOs consider that the decision to assign posts so far away violates international conventions for the safety of human life at sea, which state “that in cases of rescue, the closest safe port to the route that the ship takes, should be given, to minimize the time survivors spend on the ship.”
The Council of Europe has urged the Italian Government to modify its latest immigration decree to comply with International Law, since it could deprive survivors of “vital assistance”, while the Meloni Executive assures that it is a measure to alleviate the pressure of the arrival of migrants in Sicilian ports.
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