This crisis is exacerbated by the recent arrival of around 10,000 migrants on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. It is located about 200 kilometers southwest of Sicily. The reception facilities there are also overcrowded. That is why migrants from Lampedusa are taken to the temporary reception center in Sicily.
The police are guarding the reception center in Sicily and are currently searching for the escaped migrants. The mayor of Porto Empedocle has expressed his frustration and called the circumstances scandalous. According to him, the migrants did not flee, but went in search of basic needs such as food and drinking water. He urgently pleads for help from Rome.
At the same time, the government led by Prime Minister Meloni is taking measures to make Italy less attractive to disadvantaged migrants. One of these measures is to extend the period in which hopeless migrants can be detained before being deported from the country from three months to eighteen months. The establishment of more migrant prisons in remote locations is also being considered. Meloni is also seeking support in Brussels, where European Commission President Von der Leyen recently visited Lampedusa and promised support from EU border guard Frontex.