Most of them set sail in Libya or Tunisia – the refugees who reach Italy by sea often risk their lives. And yet their number is not decreasing, on the contrary.
The number of migrants arriving in Italy by sea has more than doubled within a year. The Italian Ministry of the Interior announced on Sunday that between August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021, a total of 49,280 people landed on the Italian coasts.
This corresponds to an increase of 128 percent year-on-year (21,616 people). 147 people smugglers were arrested, an increase of a good 25 percent.
Only a small part of the people – 4,239 – were rescued from the Mediterranean by the rescue ships of the non-governmental organizations (NGO) and brought to Italy. The vast majority of the new arrivals – 40,727 – are “Sbarchi Autonomi”, autonomous landings, in the parlance of the Italian authorities. These are people who reach Italy independently.
According to the statistics, the majority of the migrants had set sail in Libya (22,343) or Tunisia (17,677). According to the information provided by migrants upon arrival, Tunisians were the most represented (14,153 in total), followed by Bangladeshis (6027) and citizens of the Ivory Coast (3312).
The total number of boat migrants is low when compared to 2014-2017 numbers. In the period from August 1, 2016 to July 31, 2017, it reached 182,877. The then social democratic government under Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni began in 2017 to significantly tighten migration policy. This included a controversial agreement with Libya aimed at getting the Libyans not to let migrants out to sea.
The populist government, which with Matteo Salvini from the right-wing Lega took over as interior minister after the 2018 elections, tightened the course. Salvini fought the international aid organizations and closed the ports to rescue ships. After Salvini’s departure and the change of government in 2019, there was only limited easing.
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