Italian authorities irked by large flows of illegal migrants

31 Août 2020

Tunis, Tunisia, August 31 (Infosplusgabon) -Tunisian gendarmerie units foiled several attempts at illegal migration and arrested 17 people in the Medenine, Gabés and Sfax regions, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

More than 6,000 Tunisians tried to travel illegally to Italy in July, of which 4,077 actually arrived at their destination, while 2,918 were arrested by Tunisian security authorities.

These flows of illegal migrants leaving the Tunisian coasts considerably hamper the Italian authorities, who twice sent their Minister of the Interior to Tunis in July and August.

The Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" announced on Sunday that the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa, very close to Tunisia, Toto Marttelo, on Sunday afternoon sent a message to the Tunisian President, Kais Saeid, in which he threatened "to go to Tunisia by boat, imitating the migration route used by Tunisians but in the opposite direction".

The message from the mayor of Lampedusa came immediately after the arrival of a boat in the island, with 500 illegal migrants on board.

Mr. Marttelo said "I will invite (tomorrow,) Monday, the representatives of professional organisations on the island to observe a general strike".

He severely criticised the government of the Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who "continues to observe a worrying silence" with regard to the situation on Lampedusa.

He called for the use of Navy boats to intercept migrants' boats and transport them off the island, because the migrants' reception centre is full.

The people of Lampedusa have also organised protests at the island's port against the large and regular flows of migrants.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AFD/GABON2020

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