The previous significant influx of migrants was registered at the end of March, when over 6,500 refugees from Asia and Africa reached the Italian coast within five days, which is equal to the number of migrants recorded in the Apennines in the first three months of 2022. Since the beginning of this year, the migration influx has quadrupled, with almost 30,000 migrants having already arrived in the country.
The Italian island of Lampedusa is now experiencing the most serious aggravation of the migration problem, as up to 1,800 refugees rescued in the Mediterranean Sea remain in its local temporary accommodation center for migrants, initially designed for 400 people. About 400 more people picked up by Italian rescuers currently reside on various ships in the Ionian Sea.
Local experts link the sharp increase in migration flows with the internal political crisis in Tunisia, as well as the protracted instability in Libya.
Illegal migrants, who arrive in the Apennine Peninsula across the Mediterranean Sea daily, became the focus of internal political discussions in Italy after a ship with refugees sank during a storm in the Ionian Sea on the night of February 26. According to survivors, there were about 180 people from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan on board. Officials said that 89 people, including 34 minors, died in the shipwreck.
Italy seeks a solidarity approach from the European Union to solving the migration problem, offering to organize a naval mission in the Mediterranean and actively contribute to the stabilization of the situation in North Africa. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in March that "Italy was left alone" to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.