The Lampedusa hotspot has been
"reorganized" with particular attention to reception and
contingency planning, the Italian Red Cross (CRI) told reporters
during a press conference on Wednesday.
The CRI took over management of the centre that is intended to
provide preliminary reception, identification and triage for
migrants and refugees arriving on the tiny stepping stone island
between north Africa and Europe on June 1 under the terms of the
so-called Cutro decree clamping down on irregular migration,
overhauling the reception system and boosting legal pathways to
Italy.
"We realized from the outset that reorganizing this centre would
be an onerous task," said CRI director of emergency operations
and relief Ignazio Schintu of the centre that for years suffered
from regular overcrowding.
The new management said it has "reorganized the reception
modules, redone the bathrooms and upgraded a number of services
including the kitchen and canteen".
"Through a series of interventions, starting with (installation
of) portable toilets, we are able to accommodate a larger number
of people, even just for a very short time," said Schintu,
adding that in the first three days of June "about 1,250 people
came through the hotspot and within a few days they were gone".
"The solution is to transfer people to better equipped centres
to continue their journey in applying for asylum or whatever
else," he added.
Schintu said the hotspot now has a staff of between 70 and 80
people, including employees and volunteers.
"We have doctors, health workers, nurses who will make
considerable contributions to reception, but also reception
workers and mediators: in short, everything that is needed to
make this center a flagship of Italy," he said, adding that the
CRI's mission at the "gateway to Europe is to restore dignity to
all those people who arrive in Italy".
The management told reporters one of the services that has been
boosted is "the re-establishment of family ties", explaining
that new arrivals have immediate access to cell phone chargers
and a wi-fi network, as well as to family tracing services
through the global network of Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies.
At 2:30 pm on Wednesday there were 35 people in the hotspot and
the management said the aim is to have new arrivals spend no
more than 48 hours in the facility before being transferred to
first-line reception on mainland Sicily or elsewhere in Italy.
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