45 boats arrived in a few hours, more than 7000 people in the hotspot, which can no longer contain them
– Lampedusa
The island of Lampedusa, the gateway to Europe for thousands of migrants is in difficulty. The city council decreed a state of emergency after the latest landings and given the difficult situation of thehotspot that is struggling to contain the over 7000 migrants present.
Lampedusa in difficulty due to too many migrants
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“We are exhausted, we need personnel and resources” is the appeal of the island’s mayor Filippo Mannino. On September 13th there were 7,000 migrants on the island, more than the 6,000 resident inhabitants. A continuous flow of landings and at the same time departures towards other locations. In one night, more than 1600 people arrived, crowded onto various small boats. Many children disembarked in tears, but also minors traveling without parents, pregnant women. All with our thoughts turned to those left behind, to those who might not have made it on another boat. It is not easy for Civil Protection and the Red Cross to help everyone, to the point that the distribution of the meal creates tension. Migrants often haven’t eaten for days and are afraid that there won’t be food for everyone, which is why they crowd around the volunteers. Only the intervention of the police manages to restore tranquility. But with each landing a new flow of desperate people in search of water or food creates new problems.
there is also no water
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Don Carmelo Rizzo, parish priest on the island, always keeps the doors of the Church open but, as he says to Corriere della Sera, “We are no longer enough to face the chaos” especially when water is also missing. L’hotspot has long since exceeded the maximum limit of available places, so mats are distributed but finding a place to spread them out generates arguments and attacks by migrants. Not to mention the hygienic situation with the difficulties of finding a free bathroom. Last night 45 boats arrived, but not everyone makes it. Sfax reports the news of a shipwreck with four deaths and 21 Tunisians saved by the Coast Guard. The most dramatic aspect is that there could also be cases of small boats that do not meet patrol boats and are shipwrecked, disappearing into the sea without leaving any traces. Thirteen people were accidentally intercepted by the president of the association for the rights of the elderly who had gone out on a dinghy for a trip with his wife and daughter. Probably if they hadn’t seen them they would have died at sea without a trace.
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