Record 100,000 migrants arrive in Italy since beginning of this year

At least 100,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of this year, the same number arrived in the republic for the whole of 2022. More than 2,000 people died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, Report informs referring to TASS citing the newspaper La Repubblica.

The regions of the country are experiencing problems with the system of accommodation of migrants. It is possible that by the end of 2023, the total number of migrants who arrived in Italy by sea will exceed the record figure of 2016 – 180,000 people.

According to Minister of the Interior of the Republic, Matteo Piantedosi, the record number in 2023 is ‘the result of an epoch-making migration pressure associated with the dramatic socio-economic crisis in Tunisia.’ “The proof of this is that if the statistics were limited to other traditional countries (Algeria, Libya, Türkiye, etc.), the data on the number of arrivals in our country would even decrease,” he said in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper. It is possible that illegal transporters of migrants will be punished with a prison term of up to 20 years, the newspaper notes.