What is the name of the Italian island close to the North African coast that was first to have an influx of refugees?
"of Sicily in Europe - much closer than the distance to the closest African coast. The nearby Italian island of Lampedusa (principal island of the Pelagie Islands) is from Sicily while just from the African coast; similarly, Pantelleria is from Sicily and just from the African coast. All of these Mediterranean islands are actually located on the African plate, and may be considered part of the continent of Africa. However, for political and historical reasons, maps generally display them as part of Europe. A single Spanish islet, known as Alboran Island, is also debateably located on either the African plate"
"the capsized boat was believed to be carrying up to 300 North Africans and other migrants, mainly from Bangladesh, Chad, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. Among them were five children and forty women, of whom only two survived. A distress signal was received by the Italian Coast Guard at around 4:00 am local time on the morning of 6 April, from approximately south of Lampedusa. A Coast Guard spokesman indicated that the sinking was probably the result of high seas caused by strong winds and that the initial rescue effort was hampered by darkness and bad weather. Italian"
"resulting in least 300 deaths. The press referred to that incident as the ""Lampedusa boat disaster"". In 2014, 170,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea, a 296% increase compared to 2013. 141,484 of the travellers ferried over from Libya. Most of the migrants had come from Syria, Eritrea and various countries in West Africa. Lampedusa immigrant reception center Lampedusa immigrant reception center, officially Reception Center (CDA) of Lampedusa, has been operating since 1998, when the Italian island of Lampedusa became a primary European entry point for immigrants from Africa. The reception center's capacity of 801 people has been greatly exceeded"
"of contemporary (""Muslim"", ""Syrian"", ""terrorist"") refugee populations. The image was shared on Belgium's Mouvement Réformateur official Facebook page, and later by conservative U.S. politician Steve King. The same image was circulated puported to show Europeans fleeing to Africa during World War II. Vlora (ship) The Vlora was a cargo ship built in 1960 in Ancona (Italy) that sailed under the Albanian flag until 1996. It is most famous for carrying tens of thousands of Albanian refugees to the Italian port of Bari on 8 August 1991, an unprecedented mass arrival that left Italian authorities unprepared. The ship was built in"
"took the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece. The first three months of 2016 saw an increase in the number of migrants rescued at sea being brought to southern Italian ports. In April 2016, nearly 6,000 mostly sub-Saharan African migrants have landed in Italy in just four days. In June 2016, over 10,000 migrants have been rescued in just four days. In 2016, 181,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. In April 2017, more than 8,000 migrants were rescued near Libya and brought to Italy in just three days. Based on UN-data, about 80,000 refugees were registered at Italian"
"Italy, risking their lives on unsafe boats including fishing trawlers. Many of them are fleeing poverty-stricken homelands or war-torn countries and seeking economic opportunity within the EU. Italy, and, in particular, its southern island of Lampedusa, receives enormous numbers of Africans and Middle-Easterners transported by smugglers operating along the ungoverned coast of the failed state of Libya. In 2014, 170,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea, a 296% increase compared to 2013. 141,484 of the travellers ferried over from Libya. Most of the migrants had come from Syria, Eritrea and various countries in West Africa. From January to April 2015,"
"Italian shores. Although departing from Libya, most are from Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Eritrea, and Syria (which is geographically located in Asia). The route is dangerous and often unsuccessful; in 2015, 2,000 people died crossing the Mediterranean and the Libyan coast guard intercepted a large number of the boats which were transporting the illegal immigrants from Africa and into Italy. As this route begins to gain more and more publicity and attention, smugglers are using alternate routes such as Egypt, the Balkan route from Greece, and a very risky route from mountain passes in Albania. In 2017, proposals were made for"
"South African Italians made big headlines during World War II, when Italians captured in Italian East Africa needed to be sent to a safe stronghold to be kept as prisoners of war (POWs). South Africa was the perfect destination, and the first POWs arrived in Durban, in 1941. Despite being POWs, the Italians were treated well, with a good food diet and friendly hospitality. These factors, along with the peaceful, cheap, and sunny landscape, made it very attractive for Italians to settle down, and therefore, the Italian South African community was born. Although over 100,000 Italian POW were sent to"
"had participated in the unification of Italy.<br> Another Italian by the name of Dr. M. Ricono, a prominent surgeon from Cape Town, offered the British his services. Of the 3,000 or so Italians who resided on the Reef just some 1,200 were left after the war. Italian Volunteer Legion The Italian Volunteer Legion also known as the Italian Scouts were an expatriate military unit which took part in the Anglo-Boer War, raised and led by soldier and adventurer Camillo Ricchiardi on behalf of General Louis Botha. The flow of Italian migrants to South Africa started after the discovery of the"
"from the north-African country to Italy easier, with no central authority controlling Libya's ports and dealing with European countries and migrant smuggling networks flourishing. The war could also have forced to leave many African immigrants residing in Libya, which used to be itself a destination country for migrants looking for better jobs. The 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck involved ""more than 360"" deaths, leading the Italian government to establish Operation Mare Nostrum, a large-scale naval operation that involved search and rescue, with some migrants brought aboard a naval amphibious assault ship. In 2014, the Italian government ended the operation, calling the"
"favour of San Marino's request. San Marino was a refuge for over civilians who sought safety on the passing of Allied forces over the Gothic Line during the Battle of Rimini, an enormous effort of relief by the inhabitants of a country that at that time counted only 15,000 people. Despite all this, the Germans and Allies clashed on San Marino's soil in late September 1944 at the Battle of Monte Pulito; Allied troops occupied San Marino after that, but only stayed for two months before returning the Republic's sovereignty. After the war, San Marino became the first country in"
"World War II. It has since been surpassed by several other migrant shipwrecks. The disaster is known in Italy as the ""Strage di Natale"" (Christmas massacre) or Portopalo massacre. The fishermen of Portopalo became aware of the disaster when they began to recover human remains and other evidence in their nets. However, they and practically all of the other residents of Portopalo failed to report it to the authorities, fearing that government action would interfere with their livelihood. ""La Repubblica"" reporter Giovanni Maria Bellu finally broke the story, leading to much soul searching in Italy over the indifference to the"
"island from Tunisia and Libya. By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived. Most were young males in their 20s and 30s. The situation has caused division within the EU, the French government regarding most of the arrivals as economic migrants rather than refugees in fear of persecution. Italy has repeatedly requested aid from the EU in managing refugees, but has been turned down. In July 2013, Pope Francis visited the island on his first official visit outside of Rome. He prayed for migrants, living and dead, and denounced their traffickers. In October 2013, the 2013 Lampedusa disaster occurred; a"
"Italy in 2017, forming 16% of the total number of arrivals there. In February 2017 Italian government accepted to fund Libyan coastguard. Since then many migrants were forced to go back to Libya. On 7 October, 2018 at least 10 migrants are believed to have died in a boat off the coast of Morocco. Helena Maleno founder of the group Walking Borders told the reporters the migrants constantly appealed for help from Spain and Morocco before they died. According to Eurostat, EU member states received 626,065 asylum applications in 2014, the highest number since the 672,000 applications received in 1992."
"of the first refugees to the Venetian lagoon from the mainland, or even with ""venia"" (""forgiveness"") are fanciful. The alternative obsolete form is ""Vinegia"" ; (Venetian: ""Venèxia"" ; ; ). Although no surviving historical records deal directly with the founding of Venice, tradition and the available evidence have led several historians to agree that the original population of Venice consisted of refugees from Roman cities near Venice such as Padua, Aquileia, Treviso, Altino, and Concordia (modern Portogruaro) and from the undefended countryside, who were fleeing successive waves of Germanic and Hun invasions. This is further supported by the documentation on"
"North Africa as the major immigration area. About a million Romanians, around 10% of them being Roma, are officially registered as living in Italy. As of 2013, the foreign born population origin was subdivided as follows: Europe (50.8%), Africa (22.1%), Asia (18.8%), America (8.3%), and Oceania (0.1%). Due to the peninsula geographical position and close proximity to the North Africa coast, the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea has historically been the most used route for undocumented migrants. This route has become gradually more prominent as people flows through other routes to the EU gradually faded and political turmoil in Libya"
"governments to fund it. In 2014, 170,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea, a 296% increase compared to 2013. 141,484 of the travellers ferried over from Libya. Most of the migrants had come from Syria, Eritrea and various countries in West Africa. On 19 April 2015, a huge shipwreck took place in the Mediterranean Sea, causing the death of more than 700 migrants from North Africa. Renzi, returning to Rome from a political event in Mantua for the regional elections, held an emergency meeting with ministers and spoke by telephone to French President François Hollande and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph"
"influence significantly diminished following independence. It is now most frequently heard among older generations. Although Italians did not emigrate to South Africa in large numbers, those who arrived there have nevertheless made an impact on the country. Before World War II, relatively few Italian immigrants arrived, though there were some prominent exceptions such as the Cape's first Prime Minister John Molteno. South African Italians made big headlines during World War II, when Italians captured in Italian East Africa needed to be sent to a safe stronghold to be detained as prisoners of war (POWs). South Africa was the perfect destination,"
"both countries share a ""common interest"" to halt the immigration, while he also offered ""logistical help in terms of police and equipment. Until now the system of patrolling the coasts of Northern Africa has worked and we want to re-establish the technique, which had reduced illegal immigration to zero until a month ago."" Tunisia then said that it had troops patrolling southern fishing ports and that checkpoints had been erected in coastal towns. By 14 February, at least 2,000 refugees had been sent to Sicily with the other 2,000 quarantined at a re-opened holding centre. On 2 March about 350"
"the Balearic Islands and then across to the west coast of Sardinia. Whilst offshore he heard of the fate of 80 Muslim men, women and children who had been abducted from North Africa and were being sold into slavery. Between Sardinia and Sicily the ship ran into a severe storm. He said of the Italians and Muslims on board who had experience of the sea that ""all agreed that they had never in their lives seen such a tempest"". After the storm the ship went on past Sicily, Crete and then turned south and crossed over to the North African"
"a stroke. The strong fight against apartheid brought Tambo to form a series of intense international relationships. In 1977, Tambo signed the first solidarity agreement between the ANC and a municipality: the Italian town of Reggio Emilia was the first city in the world to sign such a pact of solidarity. This was the beginning of a long understanding which brought Italy to put an effort into concrete actions to support the right of southern African people's self-determination; one of these actions was the organization of solidarity ships. The first one, called ""Amanda"", departed from Genova in 1980. It was"
"boat carrying over 500 migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia, sank off the coast of Lampedusa with the deaths of at least 300 people. From January to April 2015, about 1600 migrants died on the route from Libya to Lampedusa, making it the deadliest migrant route in the world. The 2017 Oscar-nominated Italian documentary film ""Fire at Sea"" documented a part of this migrant crisis and was filmed entirely on the island in 2014 and 2015. The film also won the 66th Berlin Film Festival. Lampedusa is the southernmost point of the Republic of Italy. It is also Italy's southernmost"
"Italian forces in North Africa. Crucial to this theatre of operations was the island of Malta, sitting in the middle of Axis supply lines and, if supplied with sufficient munitions, aircraft and fuel, capable of causing severe shortages to the German and Italian armies in North Africa. Munitions and aircraft were available—during a brief lull in the Axis attacks, for example, the island's defenses were reinforced by thirty eight Spitfire Mk V aircraft flown in from —but these, along with food and fuel, remained in critically short supply. Successive attempts at resupplying the island had mostly failed; the convoys ""Harpoon"""
"ports. After the entry into force of the NGO code, in July 2017 arrivals decreased by 52,5% compared to the same month of 2016, from 23,552 to 11,183, and in August 2017 arrivals decreased by 85%, form 21,294 to 3,914. Also all NGO, except Sos Méditerranée, have withdrawn their ships from the Mediterranean. From January to November 2017, some 114,600 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. Approximately 5,000 African migrants were rescued in waters off the coast of Libya between 18–20 May 2017. Since 2013, the country took in over 700,000 migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2008 and 2012,"
"before ending up drifting across towards Italy. There were 360 people on board, all of them Syrian refugees. One of the refugees used a radio on board to tell Italian coastguards: “We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no-one to steer.” The coastguards then boarded the ship and it was towed by an Icelandic ship that is part of the EU Frontex border control mission to Italian port of Corigliano Calabro. It arrived there on 2 January 2015 and the migrants were being taken by bus to other parts of Italy. “It’s an extraordinary way"
"transfer them in Northern Africa in four ships (Duilio, Giulio Cesare, Saturnia, Vulcania) paid for by the Jewish Joint Committee. In Rome passports were prepared. The Badoglio government had chosen the sites where the refugees would be given hospitality and had assured the feasibility of the operation before the discloser of the Armistice with the Allies which was signed on September 3. When the king of Italy signed the armistice with the Allies however, the plan fell through. Donati, who had planned to return to Nice to organize the transfer, was luckily stopped in Florence because in Nice the Gestapo"
"8 to 12 meters depending on the berth. In June 2018, the container ship ""Maersk Alexander"" came into the news for having rescued 113 refugees in the Mediterranean sea, during her voyage en route from Al Khums to Malta. The ship had been directed to do so by MRCC Rome after a distress message was received from the boat with 113 refugees. After an initial refusal of permission to berth at Sicily, the refugees were subsequently disembarked at the Italian port of Pozallo. Al Khums Al Khums or Khoms () is a city, port and the de jure capital of"
"Lampedusa immigrant reception center Lampedusa immigrant reception center, officially Reception Center (CDA) of Lampedusa, has been operating since 1998, when the Italian island of Lampedusa became a primary European entry point for immigrants from Africa. The reception center's capacity of 801 people has been greatly exceeded by numerous boat people arriving from various parts of Africa. Since the early 2000s, with the onset of the ever increasing mass migration to Europe, Lampedusa has become a prime transit point for irregular migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia wanting to enter Europe. In 2004, the Libyan and Italian governments reached"
"caused a general weakening of borders and coastal control, opening opportunities to people smuggling organisations. The principal destination for sea crossings boats and rafts are the southernmost Italian territories, the Pelagie Islands. These islands are 113 km from Tunisia, 167 from Libya and 207 from Sicily. The close distance between these islands and the African mainland has caused people smuggling organisations to employ boats and rafts otherwise hardly seaworthy, generally vastly filled above their capacity. Official reports list boats filled up to 2 or 3 times nominal capacity, including the use of rubber dinghies. This has led to several accidents"
"the Strait and implemented a ""de facto"" naval blockade. The incident happened on 28 March 1997 in the Strait of Otranto when the Italian Navy vessel ""Sibilia"" collided with the Albanian ship ""Kateri i Radës"" which had left from the Albanian port city of Vlorë with 142 people on board. The ""Sibilla"" sought to stop and inspect the ship suspected of containing irregular migrants. The vessel instead ended up colliding with the ship and sinking it. According to Italian authorities, there was no intention to cause the collision. The ""Zefiro"" first approached and identified the ""Kateri i Radës"" as a"
"Headquarters for the Partisan army. The allied British army was not able to accept so many people who were fleeing to Italy. It was decided that the non-combatant population of the island and evacuated refugees would be sent to southern Italy. Firstly they were sent to Bari, and then to Taranto. The refugees were mostly from Makarska (around 6,000), Vodice, Hvar, Vis, Korčula, Ravni Kotari and Bukovica. There was heavy fighting in Italy between the Allied forces and the Germans. It was decided to transfer the refugees to Egypt, which was then under the British control. The camp was located"
"Italian Volunteer Legion The Italian Volunteer Legion also known as the Italian Scouts were an expatriate military unit which took part in the Anglo-Boer War, raised and led by soldier and adventurer Camillo Ricchiardi on behalf of General Louis Botha. The flow of Italian migrants to South Africa started after the discovery of the first diamonds in 1867 and became steady at the end of the 19th century although it never reached the huge numbers of immigration to Argentina or the United States, which remained the favorite destinations of Italians seeking better living conditions abroad. Nevertheless, the Italian population in"
"2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck On 3 October 2013, a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa. It was reported that the boat had sailed from Misrata, Libya, but that many of the migrants were originally from Eritrea, Somalia and Ghana. An emergency response involving the Italian Coast Guard resulted in the rescue of 155 survivors. On 12 October it was reported that the confirmed death toll after searching the boat was 359, but that further bodies were still missing; a figure of ""more than 360"" deaths was later reported. A second shipwreck occurred"