New Wave of Migrants Overwhelms Italian Island

Migrants disembark a boat on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, Italy July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Mauro Buccarello
Migrants disembark a boat on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, Italy July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Mauro Buccarello
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New Wave of Migrants Overwhelms Italian Island

Migrants disembark a boat on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, Italy July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Mauro Buccarello
Migrants disembark a boat on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa, Italy July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Mauro Buccarello

About 100 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean in small boats landed on the southern island of Lampedusa during the night, the latest in a wave of arrivals straining an already overcrowded holding center.

Officials said the migrants, arriving from Libya, were either rescued at sea or managed to avoid detection and reach the island.

The arrivals of small boats, some carrying as few as eight people, brought to nearly 1,000 the number of migrants who have reached the island from Libya in the last three days, Reuters reported.

About 15 boats carrying some 300 migrants arrived during the night between Wednesday and Thursday.

They were put in a holding center called the "hotspot".

Designed to hold about 100 people, in recent days it has been home to nearly 10 times as many.

Provincial officials this week ordered the emergency transfer of about 300 migrants to another center in Sicily.

The recent overcrowding in Lampedusa has also led to immigration resurfacing as a political issue.

Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the anti-immigrant League party, visited Lampedusa and the "hotspot" on Wednesday and accused the government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of being soft on illegal migration.

"I can't wait to return to a government with serious people so I can close the ports again to block delinquents and reopen them to law-abiding citizens," he told supporters on the island.

When he was interior minister in the previous government, which collapsed about a year ago, Salvini closed Italian ports to rescue ships run by charities.

In response, Enrico Borghi, of the governing Democratic Party, accused Salvini of being a "demagogue" and said the current government was not going to "watch men and women drown".



Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
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Protest Against Gaza War Prevents Israeli Visitors from Touring Greek Island

Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)
Two empty chairs stand on a beach as people cool off during a heat wave, near Athens, Greece, 22 July 2025. (EPA)

A cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists left the Greek island of Syros Tuesday without its passengers disembarking, after more than 150 protesters demonstrated at the island’s port, unfurling Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

Carrying banners that read: “Stop the Genocide” and “No a/c in hell” — a reference to the conditions Palestinians face in the Gaza Strip — the protesters chanted slogans on the dock near where the cruise ship, the Crown Iris, was docked on Tuesday, local media said. There were no reports of any violence.

The ship is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said about 1,700 passengers were on board and it is sailing to Cyprus.

Greece’s coast guard said the ship set sail at around 3 p.m., earlier than originally scheduled, but did not immediately have any further details.

“The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination,” the company said in a press release. “All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar contacted his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, over the incident, the Greek foreign ministry confirmed. It did not release any details of their discussion.