78K migrants received at Lampedusa hotspot since June - IRC

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 17 - More than 78,000 migrants and refugees have passed through the Contrada Imbriacola first reception centre or 'hotspot' on Lampedusa since June 1, 2023, when the Italian Red Cross took over management of the facility, the humanitarian organisation said on Sunday ahead of International Migrants Day on December 18.
    Since then, the over 100 volunteers and staff who work daily in the facility just outside Lampedusa town have "continued to ensure reception under the banner of dignity, as well as a concrete response to the initial needs of women and men who are welcomed after difficult crossings in the Mediterranean".
    Services have included first reception, allocation of welcome kits, health and psychological support, cultural mediation activities, meals, transport and the Restoring Family Links service for the re-establishment of family ties, said the Red Cross.
    The over 78,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in a total of around 1,900 landings, with migrant boats arriving from Tunisia and Libya.
    This year Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost point, has been the place of arrival of the majority of people crossing the Central Mediterranean in search of safety and a better life in Europe, putting the local reception capacity under strain.
    However, thanks to a restructuring of the hotspot under the new Red Cross management and the creation of a system of swift transfers of new arrivals off the island to reception facilities on mainland Sicily and in other parts of Italy, with the exception of a few critical days with peak arrivals over the summer the situation on the island has been manageable. (ANSA).