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Three hundred and seventy migrants in one fell swoop, all on an old fishing boat – tension creates a Lampedusa after the maxi-landing last night. Mayor Totò Martello threatens a general strike on the island tomorrow, while Sicilian President Nello Musumeci asks the government to convene a Council of Ministers to discuss what he considers an absolute emergency.
READ ALSO Migrants, barge catches fire in Crotone: 4 dead, two financiers injured. Lampedusa, the protest breaks out
The migrant hotspot (together with the local parish) now welcomes more than 1,500 people, many times the capacity of the center, and pushes the transversal protest – Martello is from the Democratic Party, Musumeci from the center right -, assembled by the Lega, present in Lampedusa also with former senator Angela Maraventano, who calls for the closure of the structure that houses immigrants.
the Viminale, which “is following the grave situation with extreme attention”, tries to run for cover by sending three more quarantine ships, in addition to the two already present: the first will arrive in Lampedusa tomorrow night, the other two on Wednesday. In addition, to reduce the overcrowding of the hotspot, between tonight and tomorrow, more than 300 migrants will be transferred to other places aboard patrol boats and the Dattil Port Authority ship.
It was night when the boat was rescued 4 miles from the island, while in danger of capsizing by the strong sirocco wind. The tragedy was avoided thanks to the intervention of the patrol boats of the Coast Guard and the Guardia di Finanza, who escorted the boat to the port. All 370 people on board disembarked, including 13 women and 33 minors. The refugees were transferred to the Casa de la Fraternidad of the parish priest Don Carmelo La Magra, since 1,160 people were already concentrated in the hotspot of the Imbriacola district, ten times the capacity of the structure.
The operations ended at dawn after a group of residents, led by Salvinian Maraventano, held a protest, also trying to prevent emergency vehicles from passing through the dock. “In Lampedusa the state does not exist – said the mayor – now we are facing an unmanageable situation. I still don’t know when and how the transfer of these more than 1,500 people will be organized. We are on our knees ». Martello reports later that he has summoned the productive categories for tomorrow to proclaim a general strike on the island.
To support him, Governor Musumeci, who in recent days has been challenged by the government and canceled by the TAR an order to close the Sicilian reception centers. “Lampedusa can’t take it anymore, Sicily cannot continue to pay for the indifference of Brussels and the silence of Rome – said the president of the Region -. There is a humanitarian and health emergency. The numbers say it. The facts say it. «I ask the mayors and governors of all Italy, beyond the political colors, to help Sicily
», stated League leader Matteo Salvini, «It is an immigration that is now an invasion and of which the government is an accomplice».
Many in Lampedusa wonder how such a large ship could have arrived at the port practically unmolested: the answer is that capillary control of the Strait of Sicily is impossible. This is confirmed by the approximately 30 landings of small boats, with a total of 500 migrants, which took place in the previous 24 hours. And the situation continues to be extremely fluid, with exits, especially from Libya, that do not stop. The work for the NGO ships is also intense.
The Louise Michel, financed by Banksy, now has no more guests on board, after yesterday the Italian Coast Guard and the NGO ship Sea Watch 4 transshipped the more than 200 migrants it had rescued “, but the battle of the survivors – tweets the crew – it’s not over. ”On the Sea Watch there are now 350 people saved in about a week and a new fight is likely to start, as many have seen in the past, with Europe and individual countries for identification of a port and the redistribution of the shipwrecked. And the history of migrants is inevitably intertwined with the emergence of Covid. In fact, Sicily has communicated that of the 34 positive cases today, 4 are migrants and 5 are cultural mediators of the center of Pietraperzia-Enna. Calabria has also announced that of the 34 positive cases, 10 are migrants.
Last updated: 20:03
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