Former Italian paradise-turned migrant camp now engulfed in crime and grisly filth

As is known, Brussels plans to create a city-sized migrant ghetto in Hungary, but the Hungarian government is resisting.

Lampedusa-sziget, 2023. június 16. Migránsok a lampedusai regisztrációs központban 2023. június 14-én. Az Olaszországhoz tartozó, tíz kilométer hosszú földközi-tengeri sziget mindössze 120 kilométerre fekszik Tunézia legközelebbi pontjától. Az Olasz Vöröskereszt mûködtette létesítményt eredetileg 650 fõ befogadására tervezték. 2023 elsõ négy hónapjában 40 ezer illegális bevándorló érkezett Lampedusára, négyszer annyi, mint az elõzõ év azonos idõszakában. MTI/EPA/ANSA/Vincenzo Livieri Fotó: Vincenzo Livieri

On Friday morning, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave an interview to public radio, in which he also addressed the issue of migration. He expressed his dismay at European plans to establish migrant ghettos along Hungary's southern border.

Based on the information made public so far, the contours of how the EU's proposal would work are starting to become visible. Under the so-called responsibility pillar of the compromise model developed by the larger member states, the reception of asylum applications at the border would remain mandatory and the asylum procedure would have to be completed within 12 weeks. If no final decision is taken within this period, or if the deportation cannot be executed, the migrants will have to be allowed to enter the territory of the member state concerned.

For this, countries must develop sufficient capacities based on a suitable formula. This is what Hungary's prime minister has described as a migrant ghetto, which - in the case of Hungary - would mean the setting up of a camp suitable for the simultaneous admission of 8,511 migrants, and the maintenance of a permanent state apparatus to deal with such a high number of applications concurrently. Once this capacity is filled, the processing of asylum applications could be temporarily suspended, and once the country has reached four times the designated 8,511 number, the processing of asylum requests could be completely stopped in a given year.

Illegal migrants heading from Africa to Europe after arriving at the port of Gran Tarajal on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, on 19 June 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/EFE/Carlos de Saa)

One of the most controversial aspects of the plans is that the extent of prescribed "capacity" - to use the popular jargon of Brussels bureaucrats - would be far higher for Hungary than for all other member states, as Hungary would be responsible for 28.3% of the EU's total capacity. Meanwhile, Greece, which is at the front line of the Western Balkan migration route to Hungary, would only have to maintain a capacity headcount of 1,035, while Bulgaria would be in charge of 516 people as a result of the low number of reported illegal border crossings. 

This ratio clearly indicates that the plan is designed to punish Hungary, which would be required to feed a city full of migrants on a continuous basis. Moreover, according to the plan's authors, the imposed quotas could be multiplied in the event of a so-called "migration emergency." 

The fact that there is still no decision on what responsibility a member state will bear for migrants once an asylum application has been assessed could also place an additional burden on Hungary. Looking at the current compromise, it appears that Greece's responsibility for an applicant who's entered Greece and then moved on to Serbia and stayed there would cease after nine months, Magyar Nemzet wrote.

Experience shows that migrant camps don't work

The proposal, therefore, is utterly shocking, given that the "capacities" established so far with a view to accommodating migrants until their asylum applications have been evaluated are facing brutal problems everywhere. 

This problem is most palpable on the Italian island of Lampedusa and the Greek island of Lesbos, where the influx of migrants, crowdedness, poor conditions and surging crime have caused a constant crisis,

– the Hungarian Origo portal writes.

Following an unprecedented influx of migrants, the Italian interior ministry has declared a state of emergency on April 11 and requested that the island of Lampedusa increase its capacity to receive migrants. At the end of April the Lampedusa center’s capacity to hold 400 migrants proved insufficient, so authorities announced a plan to expand it by 850 places, to cater for 1,250 migrants. The expansion - designed to "de-congest" the hot spot and enable the center to manage this influx - would cost 5 million euros, but there is still no viable solution. There were days when the facility housed 2,705 people, well above its official capacity of 400 places. In the first hour month of the year, migration pressure on Southern Italy stood at an all-time high. Until April, over 31,000 migrants have arrived in Lampedusa, majalat.org then wrote.

Since mid-April, shortly after prefect Valerio Valenti was appointed commissioner delegate for the migrants-induced state of emergency, authorities have been mulling additional maritime transport plans to ship at least 400 migrants daily from Lampedusa to the Sicilian port cities of Porto Empedocle or Pozzallo - that would add up to roughly 2,800 a week, in a bid to ease the pressure on Lampedusa. 

The project kicked off on June 10 with the relocation of 300 people, who were staying at the hot spot in Lampedusa's Imbriacola district. A total of €8,820,000 have been earmarked to fund the plan throughout 2023, authorities have said.

There is constant pressure

The force of this overbearing migratory pressure has not waned since April. In the last 72 hours alone, more than 4,500 migrants have landed in Italy, and there are now 3,250 people on the island. As the requested improvements are still not in place, the center can only accommodate 400 people at any one time.

Citing data by Italy's interior ministry, Republica has shared a message on Twitter, saying that Italy has received a total of 61,268 migrants by the end of June, more than double the 27,346 migrants that arrived during the same period last year.

Authorities are trying to ease the pressure by having coast guards provide continuous transport to migrants to the mainland.

However, Italy has long complained about a lack of support from the European Union as it struggles with in the redistribution of migrants that are crossing the Mediterranean.

The huge crowds and the supply difficulties are creating horrendous conditions on Lampedusa, as evidenced by several videos posted on social media.

Crime, filth, rubbish, overflowing toilets, food and water shortages and chronic overcrowding, with men, women and children sleeping on dirty mattresses in the open - this is what the former Italian paradise looks like.

– Europe needs to devise a unique law that deals effectively with all these problems, because they affect not only the human rights of migrants, but also the citizens of Lampedusa and Linosa, Pelagie Islands Mayor Filippo Mannino told Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, at a meeting in Lampedusa.

Europe is helpless against migration. There is often talk of cohesion and cooperation among member states, but in reality there is no will to amend the Dublin Treaty, nor to open humanitarian channels so that people can travel safely and solve problems. Lampedusa remains unchanged,

the mayor added.

Lampedusa used to face enormous pressure even in the past, as the rocky 20-square-kilometer island is closer to Africa than to the mainland of Europe, making it a popular destination for migrants. Many still try to reach Europe this way, with over a million people having crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in 2015. This number has since dropped, but authorities still recorded 123 300 individuals in 2021.

Greece's Lesbos is in a similar predicament, with several migrant camps having been built there since 2015, despite strong protests from locals.

"We will not turn the Greek islands, including Lesbos, into prisons," - this was the slogan of a march in 2019, when Lesbos residents showed up before the mayor's office. The events were covered by journalist Giorgos Christides on his social media.

The locals' protests against the migrant camps are not unjustified. Since the beginning of the migrant crisis, island residents have had countless problems with migrants.

Many locals on the islands reported that migrants were looting in areas near the camps. Migrants slaughter and take the farmers' livestock, but there was also a farmer whose olive trees were cut down and taken for firewood.

In 2020, disaster struck when a fire broke out in a migrant camp on Lesbos, where 12,000 people were housed.

Geert Wilders, the head of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) and member of the Dutch House of Representatives, also posted a video of the island of Lampedusa, with the caption: Lampedusa. Italy. An African invasion.

"In a few hours 25 boats arrived with 1500 migrants on board, no women or children. These are not refugees, they are simply migrants, and their main destination is Germany," German politician Georg Pazderski wrote on Twitter.

The solution is border protection 

The issue of migration also featured on the agenda of the European Council summit. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it was gratifying that the EU heads of state and government meeting in Brussels had succeeded in drawing attention to the serious magnitude of the mass illegal migration in Europe. Speaking at the two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Italy's premier underlined that eight months ago it was unthinkable that member states would unanimously agree to strengthen border protection. According to Ms Meloni, there has been a paradigm shift in the EU, thanks to Italy.

She believes that the leaders of the previously skeptical member states have finally understood that there should be no distinction between countries of arrival and secondary countries, that all member states are equally affected by the problem of immigration, and that border protection is the solution to the migration crisis.

PM Meloni expressed her satisfaction that the Commission accepted the proposal to support border protection with €12 billion.

She stressed that North African countries should be treated as strategic partners and not focused on merely from a migration viewpoint. The Italian PM underlined the particular importance of her visit to Tunisia on 11 June , when she was accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. According to Ms Meloni, the cooperation agreement with Tunisia could also serve as a benchmark for cooperation with other African countries of origin and transit.

Migrants and Italian police officers at the Lampedusa registration center on 14 June 2023. Photo by MTI/EPA/ANSA/Vincenzo Livieri

– "We cannot ignore the continent's external borders," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pointed out, stressing that "we must use all means to eradicate human trafficking, because we have witnessed the cynicism with which criminal organizations operate on the Mediterranean."

Alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki also expressed his objection at the meeting regarding the mandatory migrant quotas adopted by the Home Affairs Council of EU interior ministers. Both countries have been fighting for years against the quota scheme and would like for member states to reach a unanimous decision on the issue.

Poland knows full well what sovereignty means, there is no need for anyone to explain it. The country has received three million Ukrainian refugees, and one and a half million are still staying in Poland. Poles have opened their homes to genuine refugees,

– Mr Morawiecki said. Poland has received negligible support from the EU after the Ukrainian refugees, and now the country would have to pay a fine of 20,000 euros per every non-admitted  migrant, Poland's prime minister said, complaining about the unfair treatment. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni held talks with the Polish and Hungarian prime ministers at the headquarters of the Italian delegation in Brussels on Friday morning. According to some press analyses, differences of opinion on migration could cause a rift in Polish-Italian relations. PM Morawiecki is one of PM Meloni's key allies in the European Conservatives and Reformists party group in the European Parliament. At the Brussels summit, Poland's prime minister denied the existence of any tensions with his Italian ally, adding that he wanted Polish cities to not experience what was currently happening in Paris, Malmo, Marseille, or Italy, the Origo portal wrote. 

Cover photo: Migrants at the registration center in Lampedusa on 14 June 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/ANSA/Vincenzo Livieri)