Emergency in Lampedusa: after 48 hours of landings, the first night of respite for the island

Emergency in Lampedusa: after 48 hours of landings, the first night of respite for the island

A state of emergency has been declared: 2.154 migrants have landed in the last 48 hours in Lampedusa. Currently the reception hotspot in Imbriacola hosts 4.457 people. The transfer of around 2.000 migrants is expected.
A state of emergency had been declared in recent days by the Lampedusa city council, following the landfall of 2.254 with 51 punts and 5.112 with 110 vessels. Transfers have begun on the orders of Valerio Valenti, commissioner for the immigration emergency, and the prefect of Agrigento Philip Roman. It is estimated that they will be 2.000 Guests to be transferred from the island and accompanied to Augusta, Trapani and Catania.

There was no shortage of chaos in the streets of Lampedusa following the landings, many migrants wandered the streets looking for water and food. There were no public order problems but difficulties in managing the emergency situation and during the distribution of meals, given the unexpectedly high number of people who landed on the island. The intervention was immediate Red Cross and Police.

The mayor, Filippo Mannino, after a sit-in in front of the City Hall organized by a group of citizens, he asked Rome to “bypassing the island with ships at anchor, help and support in an area that has been under stress in recent months”. “The priority, at the moment, is to transfer all the migrants who have arrived in the last 36 hours and who have put the reception and relief system to the test. The transfer machine has been activated and is working: this morning 900 migrants were transferred, another 750 will leave in the evening" "Once this phase has been overcome, the Government must intervene with structural solutions, putting ships in the harbor to rescue and assist these people, proceeding immediately upon transfer to the mainland as happened with the Mare Nostrum operation. This is a small area that cannot cope with all these people asking for help. In recent years we have shown solidarity and welcome, but now we are tired and tried and we do not have the structures and logistics suitable to deal with all this", declared the Mayor who collaborates with the prefecture of Agrigento to manage the state of emergency.