Nearly 6,800 irregular migrants arrive on Italy's Lampedusa island in last 36 hours

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) – Nearly 6,800 irregular migrants arrived on Italy's Lampedusa island over the last 36 hours, local media reported on Wednesday.

Located on the Mediterranean route leading from Africa to Europe, Lampedusa welcomed 5,112 irregular migrants on Tuesday, and the flow continued even at night with a thousand more, according to state-run news agency ANSA.

The five-month-old baby of a Guinean minor dropped into the sea and drowned before reaching the land, the report also said.

Lampedusa Mayor Filippo Mannino said on Tuesday evening that the island faced a flow of disembarkation in the last 24 hours, and added that the island cannot bear this "shock wave" anymore.

A total of 116,028 irregular migrants arrived in Italy on Jan. 1 - Sept. 11, without the latest arrivals, according to the Interior Ministry figures. The figure was 63,498 in the same period of 2022.

France will intensify the controls at its border with Italy due to a 100% increase in the migration flow, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told local media on Tuesday during a visit to southeastern France, French daily Le Figaro reported.

The Mediterranean Sea is an important route for irregular migration flow to Europe.

Migrants' boats in distress seeking help are usually rescued by European nongovernmental organizations instead of European authorities.

Irregular migrants who reach Europe by their own means usually first land on Lampedusa, the Italian territory closest to North Africa.

*Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara