Migrants rescued by theocean viking were finally welcomed in France after a showdown with Italy. The refusal of this country to let the humanitarian ship dock will have consequences for relations between the two countries, said Paris, which has tightened its border controls. Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Italian government, said she was surprised by the French reaction which she described as incomprehensible and unjustified, explaining also that her country has welcomed nearly 90,000 migrants this year.
So what about the actual number of arrivals in Italy? Is this number increasing? In 2022, the country hosted exactly 88,100 as of November 7. This is an increase compared to last year since in the whole of 2021, 67,040 migrants arrived in Italy. Which was double the year before.
Bilateral agreement
But that’s half as much as in 2017, when at the time there were nearly 120,000 arrivals. And it is there that Italy signs a bilateral agreement with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez el-Serraj to limit departures, and that the European Union begins to train and finance the Libyan coast guard. The result is tangible, only 11,471 migrants arrived by sea in 2019, mainly Tunisians. However, it was this same year that Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister, holds a rescue vessel six days off the coast. He is still being prosecuted for kidnapping people in this case.
Arrivals increase
Since then, arrivals have increased again, many from Tunisia. And we can point to the visible impact of the 2020 protests against the economic crisis and corruption. By triggering the crisis these days, Giorgia Meloni begins a showdown with the European Union. She wants an EU agreement with the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, similar to that with Turkey, ignoring the instability that reigns in Libya.
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