The Italian Coast Guard discovered a new child child useless on a ship throughout a rescue operation off Lampedusa.
The Italian Coast Guard has discovered a new child child useless on a ship carrying folks to Lampedusa, ANSA information company reported, as dozens of the island’s residents protested over a current surge in arrivals.
Almost 126,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy this yr, nearly double the determine by the identical date in 2022.
Lampedusa has seen hundreds of landings this week alone, greater than the island’s everlasting inhabitants, triggering appeals for assist from native politicians.
The Italian Coast Guard mentioned the child, which was born throughout the journey, was discovered throughout a rescue operation, ANSA reported.
Earlier this week, a five-month-old child boy drowned throughout a rescue operation off Lampedusa after a ship carrying migrants and refugees throughout the ocean from North Africa capsized.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen will go to the island on Sunday, accepting an invite from Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in keeping with an EU official.
Meloni has urged the EU to behave to alleviate the strain after hundreds of individuals landed by boats over three days this week on Lampedusa, simply 145km (90 miles) off the coast of Tunisia.
The rise in arrivals has reignited the controversy over how Europe shares duty for asylum seekers.
“President von der Leyen will probably be travelling to Lampedusa tomorrow on the invitation of Italian PM Meloni,” EU Fee spokesperson Eric Mamer mentioned in a publish on X, previously generally known as Twitter.
The inside ministers of France, Germany and Italy and a few EU representatives mentioned migrant points throughout a cellphone assembly on Saturday, French minister Gerald Darmanin mentioned in a publish on X.
Resulting from its proximity to the Tunisian coastal metropolis of Sfax, Lampedusa has for years been one of many foremost locations for folks from North Africa in search of to succeed in European shores. However this week its migration centre, constructed to accommodate fewer than 400 folks, was overwhelmed.
Germany has determined to maintain taking in migrants and refugees arriving in Italy, the inside minister mentioned late on Friday, two days after it introduced the suspension of a voluntary settlement with Rome to obtain new arrivals.
Protests in opposition to camps
Dozens of Lampedusa residents held protests on Saturday in opposition to a plan to construct a brand new tent camp to host folks arriving on boats.
“I’ve two kids at residence. Prior to now years, I didn’t care about this concern. However now I’ve an intuition of safety for my kids as a result of I don’t know what’s going to occur to Lampedusa sooner or later,” one of many protesters mentioned.
“Lampedusa says cease! We don’t need tent camps. This message is for Europe and for the Italian authorities. Lampedusa residents are drained”, one other protester mentioned.
