Migrants found trying to row boat to Sardinia
The Italian Coast Guard on Thursday intercepted a boat off the Sardinian coast with nine people onboard including two under age 18. The nine were trying to row their way to shore.
Italy
MSF assists 469 refugees and migrants in Turin
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has published a report "Including the Excluded" on the organization's work to provide medical care to migrants and refugees living at the occupied former Olympic village in Turin known as the ex-MOI. MSF said it allowed marginalized people to enjoy their "right to health."
Italy: Three 20-year sentences for 'Ferragosto Massacre'
The Italian Supreme Court of Cassation has definitively confirmed sentences of 20 years in jail for three human traffickers responsible for a boat rescued in the Strait of Sicily carrying 313 migrants as well as the bodies of another 49 migrants who died during the crossing. The rescue took place in the summer of 2015 and the event is known as the "Ferragosto Massacre", Ferragosto being an Italian holiday on August 15.
Sarraj says 800,000 migrants ready to invade Italy
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj issued an appeal to "hurry" because the worsening situation in Libya could push "800,000 migrants and Libyans to invade Italy and Europe." He said among this enormous group of migrants there are also criminals and above all jihadists linked to the so-called Islamic State group ISIS.
Escalating violence in Libya will create more migrants
The UN Refugee Agency’s High Commissioner Filippo Grandi (UNHCR) warned, during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, that escalating violence in Libya could cause more migration to Europe.
Town makes 'red areas' banning migrant reception centers
Controversy has broken out in Italy after the town of Calolziocorte, with nearly 14,000 residents in the province of Lecco, approved a regulatory plan that bans migrant reception centers from being located in certain "red areas" considered "sensitive", such as near stations and schools.
Italy 'only for those with a right to it', Salvini
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has announced a new directive that "reiterates that Italian waters and skies can be crossed only by those with a right to it. No other type of entry to Italy is allowed."
EU cities and regions in migrant integration initiative
The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) and other four large associations of European entities (AER, CPMR, CEMR, Eurocities) have launched an initiative called "Cities and Regions for the Integration of Migrants" to work together on European policies for migrant integration.
In Florence, a project for unaccompanied minors
The Valdensian community and two foundations in Florence - CR Firenze and 'Il Cuore si scioglie' - have launched a project to support unaccompanied foreign minors through a range of courses including computer, Italian language, civics and theater classes.
Four EU countries agree to welcome migrants from Alan Kurdi
The Maltese government announced on Saturday April 13 that more than 60 migrants on board the German run rescue ship, the Alan Kurdi would be shared between four countries, Germany, France, Portugal and Luxembourg.
Pro-Migrant Mayor in Italy faces new hearings
Domenico 'Mimmo' Lucano has been told to expect a new hearing in court in June. The mayor, who has since been suspended from his job, is facing criminal accusations regarding his handling of the cooperatives working for integration of migrants in his town, Riace in Calabria.
Nuns protest at the closure of a reception center near Rome
Female migrants who were being hosted at an Italian government CAS reception center in Torrenova, on the eastern outskirts of Rome, will be transferred. The government has closed the center, and the nuns who were providing assistance to the women are protesting against the closure.