29/2/2008
A Record 2,000 Immigrants Crossed The Mediterranean Sea Last Month

A record 1,855 African migrants have attempted to reach Italy in February, the UN refugee agency reported last week.
Nearly two thousand refugees have landed on the shores of Lampedusa, setting a new record despite the harsh weather conditions, compared to 345 last February.

“We don't know the reasons behind the increase,” Ron Redmond, the UN spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Refugees, said.

“Most of the migrants are Somalis, Tunisians, Nigerians, Moroccans, Ghanaians, Palestinians and Algerians.”
There has also been a sharp increase in the number of people crossing the sea from Libya to Italy this week, with over a thousand people arriving between 22-27 February.

Nearly 20,000 people arrived in Italy's islands or the mainland by boat from North Africa last year, compared with 22,000 the year before.

Italy's coasts are an entry point for potential asylum seekers, with some 30 per cent of arrivals applying for asylum last year.

In 2007, at least 471 people were reported dead or missing. UNHCR, together with the Italian Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has been working on Lampedusa since March 2006 to assist those fleeing conflict and persecution and risking their lives to cross the sea to Italy.