28- Sept-2023
On Lampedusa, the lucky few who made it across the sea live in misery
Overcrowding, lack of food and police violence plague the people who fled to Italy praying for a better life.
More than 2,000 people and 289 children have died in 2023 trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and a future in Europe. Many of those who survive the journey land on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Conditions in the island’s reception centre are said to be dire year-round as the arrivals continue, far outpacing the facility’s design and infrastructure
In September, conditions were stretched seemingly beyond breaking as a significant uptick in arrivals was noted. Many had departed from Tunisia to cross the Mediterranean.
European policy towards migration so far has been to close borders and push refugees and asylum seekers back beyond the bloc’s frontiers, such as the longstanding agreement between Italy and Libya.
In July, a new pact on migration was announced between the EU and Tunisia’s President Kais Saied. Under its terms, Tunisia was promised 900 million euros ($944m) to support its faltering economy and invest in renewable energy and youth.
Earmarked within this was some 100 million euros ($105m) to bolster its border security along the lines of “shared priorities of combating irregular migration
The misery of the situation in Lampedusa was all but acknowledged by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – two of the agreement’s principal architects – who visited it in mid-September to announce the launch of a 10-point plan they hoped would ease the strain
September arrivals
Between September 12 and 15, the days immediately prior to von der Leyen and Meloni’s visit, Lampedusa saw 11,000 arrivals, mostly of sub-Saharan Africans who had departed from Tunisia’s second city of Sfax.
According to refugees and migrants Al Jazeera spoke to, the Tunisian Coast Guard had let them pass with no difficulty, while local smugglers had also asked for less than in previous months to pay for their passage.
“I tried to reach Italy four times but, so far, there’s been a lot of Tunisian Coast Guard at sea, both they and Tunisian fishermen tried to stop the boats that had Black people in them, but this time it was easier to leave. There were only two Tunisian patrol boats, and they let us pass.
According to Mohammed, a Tunisian teenager who arrived in Lampedusa in e犀利士 arly August: “I’ve seen Tunisian fishermen stealing the engines from the boats with sub-Saharan Africans on board, leaving them adrift. The coastguard will pick them up and bring them back too. For us Tunisians, it is easier to leave, but for Black people, it is really difficult
“I’ve thought of dying many times. I left Cameroon six years ago – went to Algeria, Morocco, and finally Tunisia. I haven’t seen my mother since I left.
“I miss her so much. I’m happy to have arrived here, but I’m afraid to stay in Italy because I understand your president doesn’t want us. I’m afraid of what she might do to us.”
Desperate conditions
By mid-September, conditions in the Lampedusa reception centre were stretched to breaking point. Designed and intended for 400, it was housing 7,000. Many spoke of being thirsty. Some hadn’t eaten for days.
