Once popular holiday destination, Lampedusa now gateway to EU for migrants

By Baris Seckin

ROME (AA) — Once a top holiday destination, Lampedusa has become a gateway for cross-Mediterranean irregular migration to Europe.

Italy's closest island to North Africa, Lampedusa is located in the central Mediterranean Sea north of Libya and east of Tunisia. It has been in the spotlight due to an influx of irregular migration, as well as incidents where many migrants lost their lives near it at sea.

Anadolu has compiled the developments that led to Lampedusa, once a popular resort in the Pelagie Islands, becoming the first stop on the journey of hope for migrants.

Among Italy's more than 800 islands, Lampedusa is the farthest from the mainland, with an area of ​​20.2 square kilometers (7.8 square miles) and approximately 130 km (80.8 mi) from Tunisia.

It has been a strategic point of interest for different peoples throughout history, captured in the 19th century by the Kingdom of Sicily, which later merged with Italy.

Famous for its natural beauty and beaches, Lampedusa began to change course in the 2000s.

Lampedusa started becoming a major stop on the irregular migration route in the late 2010s in particular in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia and spread across the region.

Taking advantage of the internal instability in Libya after the overthrow of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, human traffickers began taking irregular migrants fleeing Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe via the Libya-Mediterranean-Italy route.

Countries like Malta and Italy, located along this route with its islands like Lampedusa, have since been facing an increasing wave of irregular migration.