Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Monday that the situation regarding the arrival of migrants from Africa “is not explosive, it has already exploded”.

Speaking to reporters at the Italian consulate in New York, Tajani said he intended to raise the issue of migratory pressure from Africa at the 2023 UN General Assembly.

“The are no walls that are capable of halting the movement of millions and millions of people,” he said.

“Look at the history of the Barbarian Invasions – the Roman army, the most powerful in military history, could not stop them”.

On Sunday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Lampedusa with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni after being invited to the Italian island to see the situation for herself.

Over 127,000 migrants have entered Italy so far this year, approximately twice as many as in the same period in 2022, according to interior ministry data. Many of them enter via Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island.

Meloni has said the surge in migrant arrivals has put Italy under “unsustainable pressure”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals, and promised a 10-point EU action plan to help Italy deal with the situation https://t.co/3oCZGpmSps pic.twitter.com/h0e0ynak1r

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 18, 2023

On Sunday von der Leyen presented a 10-point action plan for Lampedusa, including a possible new EU naval mission in the Mediterranean.

Tajani has said that even the EU is not capable of addressing the issue on its own and has called for the involvement of the UN and NATO.

French Interior Minister Darmanin in for talks Rome

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said that he will visit Rome on Monday to discuss European cooperation regarding the arrival of migrants to Lampedusa.

“At the request of the president (Emmanuel Macron) I will go to Rome this afternoon,” Darmanin told Europe1/Cnews media, adding that France wants to help Italy hold its external border.

Chaos at Porto Empedocle due to migrant overcrowding

There was reported to be chaos on Monday due to overcrowding at the preliminary reception centre for migrants and refugees arriving in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle following transfer from Lampedusa.

Over 1,000 people were reported to be present at the temporary facility pending onward transfer to reception centres in other parts of Italy amid delays due to lack of availability of transportation services. Over 100 people were said to have left the structure independently and are now being sought by police.

A record number of migrants have arrived in the Southern Italy's Lampedusa. As tensions rose, the island declared a state of emergency. pic.twitter.com/a4M5Xigaz0

— DW News (@dwnews) September 16, 2023

Transfers by passenger ferry from Lampedusa to Porto Empedocle were suspended temporarily due to the overcrowding, which has worsened since Friday’s accident involving a coach carrying migrants and refugees from the Sicilian port city to reception facilities in northern Italy in which the two young drivers died.

Since then, coach companies are reportedly less willing to make the transfers.

On Monday 300 migrants and refugees were due to leave the facility for destinations further north.

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