Last week, the Sicilian motorized fishing boat Accursio Giarratano put its fishing activities on hold to rescue a dinghy overloaded with migrants and in distress at sea. Gaspare Giarratano, the owner of the boat, said that he rescued the migrants as a way of paying homage to his dead son.
The Italian authorities have arrested four Italians and four Tunisians on charges of aiding and abetting clandestine immigration and cigarette smuggling. The group stands accused of organizing' ghost trips' between Tunisia and Sicily.
Italian authorities have arrested 10 suspects accused of forging and illegally providing fake residency permits to foreigners in Italy.
Opened in 2011, Cara di Mineo was once Europe’s biggest camp for migrants and asylum seekers. Located about an hour’s drive outside of Catania, it was infamous for violence, deaths and scandals. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini arrived in Sicily on July 9 to ‘turn off the lights’ of the camp, fulfilling another of his personal promises.
Humanitarian organization Intersos has said that the implementation of the Salvini Decree has created an "emergency" because thousands of youths over the age of 18 can now no longer stay in reception centers. The situation in Sicily is reportedly particularly bad.
One of the migrants saved by the Mare Jonio rescue ship had previously crossed the Strait of Sicily and was sent back to Libya five times. The man's body has marks of torture on it, allegedly suffered in Libyan detention centers. Many of those onboard the ship tell similar stories of violence and torture.
The Italian organization “Mediterranea Saving Humans” is only a few months old, having been formed in October 2018. Now its ship, the Mare Jonio, is the latest migrant rescue vessel to enter into a stand-off with the Italian government after it saved 49 people from the Mediterranean on March 18.
According to figures released by the Italian government, 335 migrants landed in Italy between January 1 and March 15 this year, compared to 5,945 during the same period in 2018 - a 94 percent decline. Expulsions have quadrupled compared to arrivals during the same period, the vast majority of which were forced.
The Catania prosecutor's office has declared that the NGO ship Sea Watch did not commit a crime in taking a route to Italy. However, it said the ship is "technically unsuitable" for performing migrant rescues at sea.
Music school students and migrants from hosting centers in Palermo, Sicily, are performing in a multi-cultural orchestra to promote integration.
Large migrant boats full of passengers have decreased in the Strait of Sicily, but there is a rising concern in Italy over the possible return of smaller vessels that can evade patrols and land autonomously on the country's shores.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini is reportedly being probed for his role in preventing migrants rescued at sea from disembarking in Sicily. Meanwhile, a deal has been reached to allow the migrants to leave the ship.