The government of Giorgia Meloni had made the reduction of irregular arrivals of migrants in Italy one of its priorities. On Monday August 28, their number, over the first eight months of the year, amounted to nearly 113,500, more than double that recorded in the same period in 2022. Faced with a rapid increase in departures from Tunisia , the emergency measures taken by the executive since the beginning of its mandate, at the end of October, have not been enough. Again, the island of Lampedusa concentrates the arrivals. From August 25 to 27, more than 4,000 people landed there after a crossing started from the Tunisian shores. On the government side, between promises of more restrictive measures, attacks or calls for help in the direction of Brussels and still unproductive diplomatic efforts in the Mediterranean, the data on the management of the migration issue remain the same.
“The situation of the last days is the most critical since the 1er June “, indicates to World Rosario Valastro, the president of the Italian Red Cross who manages the “hot spot” of Lampedusa, a center from which migrants are transferred to the mainland when weather conditions permit. At the end of the day on Monday, 3,000 people were accommodated there, in a structure initially designed to accommodate 600. “What concerns us with this rate of arrivals is to be able to continue to guarantee assistance to people who come in very critical conditions, many of whom are minors”, deplores Mr. Valastro. In three months, more than 48,000 people have passed through the center to then be directed to a national reception system, the saturation of which local elected officials and associative actors denounce.
The vast majority passed through the Sfax region in eastern Tunisia, which has become the main crossing point for migrants mainly from sub-Saharan Africa. This situation persists despite the neighborhood policy conducted by Rome in Tunisia and presented as the model of its diplomatic approach in the Mediterranean. Since taking office, Mr.me Meloni advocates the conclusion of agreements with the countries of departure and transit supposed to guarantee investments and financing in exchange for increased control of migratory flows upstream of the Italian borders. The President of the Council obtained from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that she subscribe to this approach by going to Tunis on July 16 to sign with her and the authoritarian Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, an agreement of this nature whose practical translations have yet to take shape.
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