A total of 26,927 illegal migrants have reached Italian shores since the beginning of 2023, compared to 6,543 immigrants in 2022, the Italian Interior Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that it also recorded the arrival of 6,564 illegal migrants to the Italian shores in the past five days, including 2,814 children, noting that the peak of the flows was recorded last Saturday, with about 2,815 migrants.
Italy is the most important point of arrival for illegal trips across the Mediterranean from African countries, and has called for the assistance of European Union countries on many occasions to bear the costs of these increasing numbers of irregular migrants.
Since 2014, more than 20,000 migrants have drowned or gone missing in the middle of the Mediterranean on illegal journeys to reach the southern coasts of the European Union, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s reports.
Source: Qatar News Agency