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Island of Sardinia alarmed by increase in number of migrants arriving on its shores
Topic Started: Sep 7 2017, 01:13 AM (137 Views)
Algueres
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Island of Sardinia alarmed by increase in number of algerian migrants arriving on its shores

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The holiday island of Sardinia has raised the alarm over the increasing number of migrants arriving on its shores from Algeria, in what could be a new route opening up across the Mediterranean.

The increase in landings may be linked to the situation in Libya, where a crackdown by the Libyan coast guard and alleged payments by the Tripoli government to smuggling gangs have led to a dramatic drop in the number of migrants crossing from Libyan coast to Italy.

The number of migrants arriving in Italy from Libya in August dropped by 81 per cent compared to the same period last year.

But arrivals from Algeria are rising and the governor of Sardinia has requested urgent action from Rome to deal with the influx.

The governor Pigliaru said there was "social alarm" among Sardinians and called on the government to increase cooperation with the Algerian authorities to block the migrants from leaving.

"The landings are having a serious impact on our network of reception centres and are causing considerable social alarm among the population," he said.


The alarm was “justified” in the light of several “criminal acts” conducted by Algerians in Sardinia’s towns and cities in recent months, he said. "The objective is to stop the flow of irregular migrants and close down this route," said Mr Pigliaru.


Algeria earns vast revenues from oil and gas but many of its people live in poverty and unemployment is high. Many young people dream of a new life in Europe. Those who try to enter the EU illegally are known as “harragas”, an Arabic term which refers to their habit of burning their identity documents.

With the right weather conditions, Algerians can reach the southern coast of Sardinia in an overnight crossing.

Earlier this week, Marco Minniti, the Italian interior minister, held talks with his Algerian counterpart, Noureddine Bedoui, to discuss ways of tackling the flow.

For months, small boatloads of Algerians have been landing on the coastline of Sardinia, but the pace appears to have picked up recently.

So far this year, more than 800 Algerians have crossed in smugglers' boats, compared to 1,100 who arrived in the whole of 2016.

The numbers are still miniscule compared to the 100,000 migrants who have reached Italy from Libya this year, and the 181,000 who successfully made the crossing last year.

But Sardinia says its migrant reception centres are full and it is struggling to cope with the influx. In addition to accommodating the Algerian migrants, the island, which is popular with British holidaymakers, has also taken thousands of asylum seekers rescued off the coast of Libya.

The crackdown in Libya has also led to an increase in the number of migrants trying to cross from Morocco to Spain.

More than 8,300 migrants have turned to the so-called Western Mediterranean route so far this year, compared with 2,500 during the same period in 2016.
Edited by Algueres, Sep 7 2017, 01:21 AM.
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Antoni Sias
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In addition Sardinia which is very far from the lybian coasts (around 1000 kms) is forced to receive other thousands refugees (mainly fake refugees) brought by italian and foreign navies and NGO's ships from Lybia though not directly involved from that migrant route.
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