Lampedusa, a small island off the cost of Southern Italy has historically been a transit land for invaders, pirates and most recently migrants.
In the past 15 years, Lampedusa has been a recipient of thousands of migrants having left Tunis or Libya on a life-threatening journey by boat. The precarious voyage to the island is usually on small finishing boats that are packed with men, women and children from all walks of life, hoping and praying that they may reach their safe haven.
On October 2, 2013, the world witnessed an incident that took the lives of 350 people out of 500 who hoped that they would reach the island. Testaments by survivors claimed the boat’s small engine failed at sea, pushing several passengers to light a fire in hopes of attracting nearby boats. It ended in tragedy- the boat lit on fire and sunk, trapping many, especially children. This boat incident is catastrophic, given the large number of people who drowned simultaneously under such dire circumstances, but the question of migration control has caused another wave of discussion in Europe.
Migrants aboard the boat and those who safely reached Lampedusa, come from various countries in Africa and the Middle East, and despite dogmas among the international community, many are women and children. Over the past few months, an increase in the number of migrants from Syria, Eretria and Somalia have been noticed and this, for obvious reasons, is due to the political and economic crises that have occurred in the aforementioned countries. Nevertheless, it should be noted that many of the migrants, unknowingly, were victims of human trafficking networks and/or fishermen who wished to make alterative income.
Despite the various motives of people to migrate, this last wave of migrants has sparked a new discourse in Europe. On one side, northern European countries are demanding tighter migration control on Europe’s coast, particularly in Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal (known collectively as the Southern Rim). On the other, the aforementioned countries are demanding fiscal reparation for ‘dealing’ with the migrants entering Europe through respective entry points. Other transit countries, such as Spain and Portugal, have tightened migration by increasing coastal control and stricter migration laws. But Italy and Spain within their own respective crises, are unable to do so.
Italy, for example, cannot sustain such high numbers of migrants on a yearly basis giving its political lock and recently introduced austerity measures. Furthermore, funds to increase coastal patrols and stricter monitoring are simply unavailable, even though the European Union has pledged 30 million euros in funds but none has been evident so far. Northern European countries have introduced stronger immigration policies because they tend to be the final destination of migrants and they have the funds to do so and are not vilified to do so either.
Lampedusa, a small island off the cost of Southern Italy has historically been a transit land for invaders, pirates and most recently migrants.
In the past 15 years, Lampedusa has been a recipient of thousands of migrants having left Tunis or Libya on a life-threatening journey by boat. The precarious voyage to the island is usually on small finishing boats that are packed with men, women and children from all walks of life, hoping and praying that they may reach their safe haven.
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