The rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 started disembarking the more than 300 people its crew rescued over the past week in Pozzallo, southern Italy. The Mare Jonio was also granted permission to disembark its 92 rescued migrants in Pozzallo.
While the Spanish Canary Islands have seen tens of thousands of migrants arrive in recent years, the Balearic Islands have recently also seen an increase in migrant arrivals.
The body of a man has been retrieved off western Cyprus after Syrians who arrived from Turkey by boat said that one among them had fallen overboard. So far this year, close to 6,000 migrants have arrived irregularly in the Republic of Cyprus from the Turkish-administered northern part.
As the UK is tightening its asylum policies many migrants are trying to make their way to the country before decisive changes are enacted into law. This week marked a new record of at least 9,000 people arriving on British shores since the beginning of 2022.
A Jesuit center for refugees in Italy has noted that 67,040 migrants arrived in Italy in 2021 by sea, almost twice as many as the year before. Among them were nearly 10,000 unaccompanied minors.
The number of people attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands from Africa continues to rise, but at a huge cost. One in five deaths or disappearances of migrants recorded by the UN last year happened on the Atlantic Ocean route.
Around 25 people are believed to have died during an attempt to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Survivors said the bodies of the dead were thrown overboard.
In 2022, a reported 6,701 migrants arrived in Italy from the Mediterranean -- around half were rescued at sea and the other half landed on their own. Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese warned that arrivals could increase due to a food crisis in countries of departure caused by the war in Ukraine.
More than 4,000 African migrants died in 2021 while trying to reach the Canary Islands by boat, according to some sources. There have never been so many deaths as now, aid workers are saying.
At least 4,115 migrants landed irregularly in Spain in January 2022 – 42.3% more than in January 2021. Most of them landed on the Canary Islands.
In recent years more and more migrants have been crossing, or have attempted to cross, the English Channel on small boats. Despite a deadly shipwreck in November that claimed the lives of 27 people, crossing attempts have continued unabated. Why are migrants risking their lives instead of staying in the EU and seeking protection there?
Slightly more than 59,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Italy so far this year by crossing the Mediterreanean, according to Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese. About 79,000 people are currently being hosted in the national reception system.