Italy: Tunisian migrant arrivals increase by 57% in May

Rome: Nearly 950 undocumented Tunisian migrants, including 354 minors, arrived in Italy in the month of May, reports an NGO in Tunisia. That’s an increase of more than 50% on last year’s numbers.

Some 947 undocumented Tunisian migrants, including 354 minors, arrived in Italy in the month of May, a 57% increase on the 601 in the same month the previous year, according to a report by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).

FTDES said that the total number of Tunisian migrants that had arrived in Italy between January and May was 2,206. The same source said that there had been a rise in the period between January and May also of departures of migrant boats from Tunisian shores that had been intercepted by the Tunisian authorities: 536, an increase of 77% compared with the first five months of 2021.

The number of migrants intercepted rose since the beginning of the year to 7,250, a 31% increase compared with the same period of the previous year.

The report states that these figures show a migratory wave towards the northern shores of the Mediterranean despite an increase in interception operations. It said that this wave could reach a peak in July due to several factor