More than 600 migrants from North Africa arrive on Italian shores
On Sunday, Italian authorities said that more than 600 migrants, many of them Egyptians, had arrived in southern Italy in the past 24 hours.
During the night, the Coast Guard rescued about 300 men and boys who had piled into a fishing boat off the southern tip of Italy. They were disembarked at the port of Roccella Jonica.
Hours later, 212 migrants, mostly Egyptians and Syrians, were disembarked from a second boat and also taken to Roquila Junica.
Further south, 113 migrants, including at least eight women, arrived on the island of Lampedusa in two separate boats. According to local media, some of them are Tunisian.
Mario Draghi calls for more coordination
As of November 12, the number of migrants arriving in Italy this year was 57,833, compared to 31,213 in the same period in 2020 and 9,944 in 2019.
Right-wing parties have accused Italy’s Interior Ministry of not doing enough to stem the flow of migrants. Speaking after a conference on Libya on Friday, Council President Mario Draghi called for greater coordination with Europe to solve the problem.
“What is certain, however, is that the ongoing landings in Italy make the situation unsustainable,” he told reporters alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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