LAMPEDUSA, ITALY

Boats used by migrants lie abandoned in the port of the Italian island of Lampedusa. About 250 Tunisian migrants in several small boats reached Lampedusa at the start of August, but the tiny island had run out of room to quarantine them as a result of Italy’s COVID-19 measures. The central government in Rome was forced to house them on a ferry, as arriving migrants have been linked to recent clusters in Italy, leading to fears of a fresh surge in cases. The number of Tunisian migrants trying to reach Italy has increased significantly due to the country’s serious economic crisis. The Tunisian Government, which took office in February after months of political upheaval following last year’s election, was already struggling with mounting deficit and soaring public debt when COVID-19 struck. Tunisia imposed a complete lockdown from March until May but has gradually reopened. However, its economy is expected to shrink by 6.5 per cent this year and the tourism sector, which contributes nearly 10 per cent of GDP, has been decimated.

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, has warned of an explosion in migrants around the world as the pandemic combines with weather-related phenomena such as cyclones in South Asia and the Pacific and vast locust swarms in East Africa. Chapagain says there is an immediate need for support to relieve people’s desperation or the resulting waves of migration will lead to deaths at sea, human trafficking and exploitation.