Italy faces growing migrant flows

The number of migrants arrived in Italy declined in May when compared with that of the same period last year, an official with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday.

Since May 1 to date, nearly 12,800 migrants have landed in Italy, Federico Fossi, an Italian spokesperson of the UNHCR, told Xinhua. The number was lower compared to the about 21,200 arrivals registered over the same period last year, but was continuously growing, he said.

According to Fossi, the flows can significantly vary from month to month due to a series of factors, of which the main one is weather. The arrivals generally increase with the good weather and diminish with the bad weather, he said.

The arrivals saw a rise in January, while diminished in February and then significantly increased again in March, before a sharp fall in April, Fossi pointed out. Overall, around 40,500 migrants have landed in Italy since the beginning of 2016, compared to some 47,500 over the same period last year, according to UNHCR estimates.

Fossi said that most of the migrants who arrived this year were from Sub-Saharan Africa. Among those who reached Italy between January 1 and April 30, 16 percent were Nigerians, 10 percent Gambians and 9 percent Somali, he said. Just less than 50 were Syrians, a situation that was different from 2014 when Syrians accounted for around half of the total.

Dangerous sea crossings continue to result in tragedies. A nine-month orphaned Nigerian girl was among the some 540 migrants who were rescued by the Italian navy on Wednesday after her pregnant mother died of burns during their Mediterranean crossing aboard an overcrowded boat that capsized. Rescuers recovered five bodies after the accident.

Another disaster occurred on Thursday, when a migrant boat capsized 35 nautical miles north of the Libyan city of Zuwara, and 20 to 30 people were feared to have drowned in the incident. The search and rescue operation, one of the over 20 carried out in the past few days, involved Italy's navy ships and coast guard patrol boats, along with other forces from the European Union (EU) naval mission EUNAVFOR MED and EU borders agency Frontex.

"Various forces are doing their part in this effort, and we must also thank the many volunteers willing to offer their help," Fossi said. Grassroots support, he added, is especially important when dealing with vulnerable migrants, such as unaccompanied minors- most of whom were from Egypt and Eritrea - accounted for around 17 percent of the arrivals since January 1, and women who accounted for around 12 percent of the arrivals.

"We are registering a worrying increase of unaccompanied minors. They are the most at risk of trafficking, sexual exploitation and physical abuse," he said.

Italy is presently hosting more than 115,500 migrants in its overcrowded reception centers, but the country is on track to receive as many as 200,000 for 2016, according to figures of the Italian interior ministry.

Besides making the press headlines, the migrant crisis has also been central in Italy's politics. At the end of a two-day Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Japan, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi highlighted on Friday "the human values represented through a continuing commitment in the Mediterranean" plus Italy's proposed migration compact to aid sub-Saharan African countries of origin.

Source: XINHUA