UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on
Friday said the situation on the island of Lampedusa is
"critical" following the arrival by sea of unprecedented numbers
of migrants and refugees in recent days and insisted that
ensuring "adequate assistance" for the most vulnerable must be
"a priority".
"The situation in Lampedusa is critical and we appreciate that
urgent action is underway to return the island to normalcy,"
said UNHCR Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino
Chiara Cardoletti in a statement.
"We fully recognize the difficulties caused by a very large
number of people arriving simultaneously on a small island where
reception capacities are limited. In order to ensure that people
get the assistance they need, decongesting the island remains a
top priority," she continued, expressing appreciation for the
efforts of the Italian authorities "who have already transferred
almost 5.000 people in the past 28 hours".
"In this situation of severe overcrowding, it is a priority to
identify and ensure adequate assistance for vulnerable people
such as, for example, survivors of violence and those with other
fragile conditions," said Cardoletti.
The UNHCR representative added that the current situation can be
addressed "by reverting to a landings mechanism that involves
the use of ships with greater capacity that can relieve pressure
on Lampedusa by bringing rescued people to other landing areas
as well".
This solution, she said, "requires the early support of the
European Union in a spirit of shared responsibility and
solidarity with the countries of first landing", reiterating
UNHCR's call for the establishment of an agreed regional
mechanism for landing and redistribution procedures for people
arriving in the bloc by sea.
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