13:15 27 April

Alert for two other boats: 50 people between Sfax (Tunisia) and Lampedusa, another 30 north of Benghazi (Libya)

12:47 27 April

Mayor of Lampedusa tomorrow from Piantedosi: "Situation still under control, tourists on the island"

"Arrivals follow one another with greater speed, and this causes overcrowding." The mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, told the news agencies about the difficult situation that the island's hotspot is going through these days. The mayor announced that tomorrow he will be in Rome for a meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, who yesterday evening, in agreement with the Prefecture of Agrigento, ordered the transfer of 389 people embarked on the ferry.

"We will have to wait a few more days for the conversion into law of the Cutro decree - said Mannino -, and then we will refine some details. But we are confident that the whole transfer system will be speeded up." On the repercussions that the migratory wave could have on the tourist season, Mannino is serene: "There is no relapse. This is a phenomenon we have been living with for thirty years," he said. Although the newspapers speak of a catastrophic situation and a continuous emergency, I can assure you that this is not the case at all. Thanks to our well-proven arrival management system, tourists have absolutely no perception of landings. Suffice it to say that the beach of Guitgia (which is a few meters from the Favaloro pier where the landings take place), this morning was crowded with tourists who were swimming as if we were already in the middle of summer".

12:45 27 April

Lampedusa, hotspot four times over the limit. Transfers in progress

In the past few hours, 102 migrants have landed on the largest of the Pelagie, and in the structure of the Imbriacola district the 2,500 presences have been exceeded compared to a capacity of just under 400 places.

Ninety were embarked on the patrol boat of the Guardia di Finanza that is on its way to Pozzallo. Afterwards, in the morning, another 250 migrants were transferred with the liner that will arrive in Porto Empedocle in the evening. With three military aircraft, moreover, during the day, 3 groups of 90 people will be transferred to the airports of Trapani Birgi, Sigonella and Cagliari. Yesterday evening, however, with the ferry line arrived at dawn in Porto Empedocle, 389 migrants were transferred.

12:30 27 April

In the morning docked at the port of Naples the Geo Barents with 75 people on board

The Geo Barents, a search and rescue ship of the NGO Doctors Without Borders which, last Monday, April 24, had rescued 75 people at sea, including 40 minors and 13 women who were on board a boat in distress in international waters off the coast of Libya, docked in the early hours of dawn at the port of Naples.

12:30 27 April