Migrant landings in Italy are decreasing, according to the country's interior ministry, at a rate of 50% over the first three months of the year, compared to the same period in 2023. However, a high number of migrants continue to suffer distress at sea.

Italy has been recording significantly lower migrant landings in the first three months of 2024, compared to the same period last year.

A total of 9,479 migrants have reached Italy between January 1 and March 22 this year, down from the 20,364 recorded over the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, a total of 688 unaccompanied minors reached Italy so far in 2024, down from over 2,000 last year. 

Only in recent days was there an uptick observed in arrivals rates due to favorable weather conditions, with nearly 1,000 foreign national reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa after departing from Sfax and Zarzis in Tunisia and from Sabratha and Tajoura in Libya last week.

Lampedusa's migrant hotspot has been hosting over 1,000 migrants on several occasions in recent days before they could be transferred to facilities on the mainland. However, due to ongoing new arrivals, the facility remains highly occupied.

Several people missing at sea

However, new tragedies are unfolding in Mediterranean not far from the coast of Lampedusa.

Search operations were underway on Monday (March 25) to find a 15-month-old girl who went missing while travelling on a dinghy with her mother, a citizen of Cameroon. One day earlier, a 15-year-old boy from Guinea was reported as missing.

In another shipwreck scenario on Saturday, two people were reported as missing as well.

There is little hope that any of them could still be alive.

Source: InfoMigrants

BDST: 1052 HRS, MAR 27, 2024
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