The mayor of the southern Italian city of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, has called for the creation of a European civil service to rescue migrants at sea, following several deadly shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.
The Italian interior ministry said the country has already surpassed 10,000 migrant arrivals in 2021, three times more than the same period last year. This figure doesn't include the 455 migrants brought to Italy by the NGO ship Sea-Watch 4.
The first of more than 450 people rescued from the Mediterranean by the Sea-Watch 4 have gone ashore in Sicily. The migrants included children and unaccompanied minors who had attempted the dangerous journey from Libya.
Gambian midfielder Ebrima Darboe reached Italy by boat from Libya as a teen. On May 2, he debuted in Serie A with the Italian capital's football team AS Roma.
Some 830 migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya have been returned since mid-last week, including over 600 on Friday and Saturday, according to the IOM and Libya's navy. Eleven migrants reportedly drowned off Libya on Sunday. Separately, UNICEF warned of the dire situation of tens of thousands of migrant and refugee children in Libya.
At least 236 people saved from the Mediterranean Sea by a private rescue ship were taken to the Sicilian port of Augusta at the weekend. Another charity vessel which picked up more than 450 migrants is still waiting for an offer of safe harbor.
A hostel for seasonal workers, most of whom migrants, opened last week in Cassibile, near the Sicilian city of Siracusa. The facility can host up to about 80 people in 17 housing units.
Over 20 migrants' rights organizations have sent a letter to the Italian government to ask for the withdrawal of a regulation which they claim "hinders the regularization" of migrants, "harming those who want to emerge from invisibility."
Authorities in the southern Italian city of Foggia have activated a security patrol service at the so-called 'Gran Ghetto' in Torre Antonacci, a makeshift migrant camp, after three migrants were shot in the night between April 25 and 25 and following the attempted theft of gasoline.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Tuesday attended the funeral in Bari of a homeless 46-year-old Eritrean refugee who died in dramatic circumstances a few days ago. The UN agency launched an appeal not to "leave behind" refugees in Italy.
A massive police operation against the Nigerian mafia in Italy that was carried out in 14 provinces led to the arrests of 30 foreign citizens. The leader of the organization, who arrived on a migrant boat from Libya in 2014, was also caught.
A 30-year-old citizen of Mali was injured in the face from an air gun pellet in an attack that took place during the night between Sunday and Monday in Foggia in southern Italy. The shots were fired from an off-road vehicle that came up beside their car.