Lampedusa under pressure as migrants keep coming

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 16 - Lampedusa's migrant hotspot was under heavy pressure on Sunday as the wave of arrivals from North Africa continued unabated.
    Early on Sunday there were 2,116 people at the hotspot, which has an official capacity of around 400, even though 933 people were transferred to other parts of Italy on Saturday.
    Over 600 migrants are set to be transferred from the island on two ships later on Sunday.
    Italy's southernmost island is often the destination boats carrying migrants and refugees from north Africa head for.
    On Sunday around 100 people on two boats rescued by EU border agency Frontex were taken to Lampedusa.
    They departed from the Tunisian port of Sfax and originally came from Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea and Mali.
    Frontex said Friday that the number of detections of irregular border crossings in the Central Mediterranean rose to 65,600 in the first six months of 2023.
    The EU border agency said that this was the highest number on this route for this period of the year since 2017 and was up by nearly 140% on a year ago.
    The Central Mediterranean remains the main migratory route into the EU, Frontex said.
    Also on Friday UNICEF said that at least 289 children are estimated to have died or disappeared this year attempting to cross the perilous Central Mediterranean Sea migration route.
    The UN agency said this equates to nearly 11 children dying or disappearing every week.
    Furthermore, UNICEF said that it estimates around 1,500 children have died or gone missing while attempting the Central Mediterranean Sea crossing since 2018. (ANSA).