Italy asks for EU funds to clear Lampedusa after migrant influx

Rome: The Italian government is asking for EU funding to relocate migrants from the overcrowded island of Lampedusa across the Italian mainland after declaring a state of emergency on Tuesday.

The Italian government is trying to lighten the burden caused by a constant influx of migrants to the country’s tiny island of Lampedusa.

Lawmakers declared the clearing of the country’s sole migrant reception center a priority on Wednesday (April 12), the day after Italy declared a state of emergency on immigration.

The government has asked the EU for financial assistance to help move the migrants.

“[It is] difficult for a single country to take on the burden alone,” said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.

In the first quarter of 2023, around 440 migrants died at sea while trying to cross to Europe, marking the deadliest quarter since 2017, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Another shipwreck occurred off Tunisia on Tuesday (April 11), killing at least 25.

400-max capacity facility on Lampedusa hosting over 1,000

The migrant reception center at Lampedusa has a capacity of 400 people, but is currently hosting over 1,000.

“Ships are needed in harbour that are ready to embark and transfer migrants to [the north Italian domain] Terraferma,” mayor Filippo Mannino said.

The country’s defense ministry has made military units available to implement the transfers more rapidly.

Lawmakers are in the process of crafting an ordinance to speed up the relocation process, possibly using ferries and other non-military vessels, while the Italian Coast Guard has moved its La Maddalena patrol boat from Sardinia to Lampedusa.

While Lampedusa is the priority, Italy’s government is also working to lighten pressure on the entire reception system, which is “severely overcrowded”, according to a statement issued following the latest Cabinet meeting.

The government said it will try to avoid relocating migrants to facilities already hosting large numbers of people to instead distribute arrivals evenly across the country.

The state of emergency will make it possible to bypass some regulations and speed up the process.

Minister Piantedosi is also looking into an expansion of the country’s permanent repatriation centers.

Ten of these centers exist, with a total capacity of 1,300. The government aims to double this number, establishing centers in every region of Italy.

The European Commission has not commented on the state of emergency decided by Rome, but a spokesman told ANSA that commissioners are “in contact” with the Italian authorities.

Italy, the spokesman noted, receives support from the EU “through a wide range of measures” including “expertise on the ground.”

They added that Italy is “one of our main beneficiaries of the fund for migration and integration and is also among the top beneficiaries in the Mediterranean for the new planning period.”