Thousands of migrants are arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

L’île italienne de Lampedusa fait face à un afflux de migrants exceptionnel. Ces trois derniers jours, plus de 7 000 personnes, majoritairement originaires d’Afrique subsaharienne, ont débarqué sur l’île. C’est autant que le nombre d’habitants à Lampedusa.

Coming from Tunisia, whose coasts are only about a hundred kilometers away from Italy, most of them hastened their departure due to favorable weather conditions.

Problem: the main reception center in Lampedusa only has 600 accommodation spaces, and the authorities quickly found themselves overwhelmed. To alleviate the overcrowding on the island, the mayor has declared a state of emergency and migrants are gradually being transferred to other reception centers.