Warning of immigrant overload in many localities of Italy

Migrants on Lampedusa Island, Italy

After the initial reception, the problem of arranging stable accommodation for the increasing number of immigrants posed a huge challenge in terms of resources and caused mixed reactions from the authorities and people in the receiving areas.

In many small and medium-sized towns in the Veneto region, mayors from the League party (Lega) have refused to accept more migrants, criticizing the government for failing to deliver on its campaign promises. Meanwhile, Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni, who is also the immigration commissioner of the Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), said: “We are in the most urgent situation we have ever seen, at least since I took office, and there is still no concrete solution.”

In addition to supporting adult migrants, the current dilemma is related to receiving and caring for a large number of unaccompanied minors. As the main responsible people, mayors are having difficulty finding facilities to accommodate this group of people. As in many other cities, the city of Padua in the Veneto region has had to arrange for migrant children to stay in school gyms. These are temporary solutions because Italian students will return to school in less than a month.

Italy has received and assisted 10,286 minors so far this year, down from more than 14,000 in all of 2022. Warning signs also came from Bologna (capital of the Emilia Romagna region), which has received 510 minors, many of them aged 12 to 13. City Councilor for Welfare Luca Rizzo Nervo said the city was using all its capabilities.

The situation is similar in the southern regions, where police forces have been called back to duty even during the holidays to deal with the emergency. According to the National Police Union (SIAP) and the National Association of Police Officers (ANFP) of Sicily, the situation in the province of Agrigento (in Sicily) is so urgent that Police Chief Emanuele Ricifari and Prefect Filippo Romano are coordinating the on-site action.

On August 19 alone, more than 200 migrants were rescued by sea, bringing the total number of cases received by Italy to 13,826 in August 2023 and nearly 103,000 since the beginning of the year, more than double the 50,000 in 2022. Meanwhile, the case of the Aurora ship of the NGO Sea Watch carrying 72 refugees in very difficult conditions has been resolved. After being refused entry to the port of Trapani due to the distance being too far, the ship was allowed to divert to the island of Lampedusa.

Measures to relieve the pressure on the island of Lampedusa as well as the port of Porto Empedocle (Sicily) are continuing. On August 19, about 1,500 migrants were transferred from these hotspots by ferry, plane and military ship.

According to VNA