EUs byrå for grensekontroll, Frontex, sier at så mange som 2.500 illegale innvandrere kommer inn i Europa gjennom Italia hver uke. I årets tre første måneder ankom det 33.000 Europa – 22.600 gjennom Italia. Flesteparten er økonomiske flyktninger fra Tunisia og land sør for Sahara.

Many of them came through the rocky Italian outcrop of Lampedusa on rickety fishing boats pushing the island’s limited resources to the limit with numbers at one point being double that of the 5,000 local inhabitants.

The figures were revealed in Athens by Frontex deputy director Gil Arias Fernandez during a visit to Greece which up until this year was the main entry point for illegal immigrants into Europe.

Mr Fernandez said that for the first quarter of this year just 7,200 illegal entries were registered in Greece – last year for the same period just 147 illegal migrants had been detected trying to enter Italy, compared to 13,085 attempting to get into Greece.

Frontex´ visedirektør Gil Arias Fernandez sier at mens det er vanskelig å forutsi hva som vil skje resten av året, vil «situasjonen forbli ganske dramatisk i det sentrale Mediterrania».

Ifølge Frontex og FNs høykommisær for flyktninger har mer enn 41.000 mennesker forsøkt å komme inn i Europa via Lampedusa og andre italienske øyer.

Pressemeldingen fra Frontex kom samtidig med at kystvakten ved Lampedusa anholdt en båt med 290 illegale innvandrere, som kom i tillegg til de 1.600 alt hadde ankommet den vesle øya i løpet av helgen.

One British official involved in illegal immigration in Italy said, ‘This is a big, big problem and added to this we still have the criminal gangs who are bringing people in.

‘We have passed on information that has helped intercept three boats involved in criminal people smuggling but that is a drop in the ocean compared to the huge numbers coming over.’

Many illegal immigrants have drowned in their attempts to cross from north Africa with dozens of boats sinking and other still missing and officials say with the summer fast approaching traffic will increase.

Daily Mail: 2,500 illegal immigrants a week from North Africa flooding into Europe through Italy

Via Snaphanen