is this little island in the Mediterranean Sea where the European Union falls apart so warn Italy's political leaders closer to North Africa than the mainland lampedusa is just seven miles long tourist idle and the key Gateway for would-be migrants who seek Europe nearly 130 000 have arrived to Italy so far this year double last year's number at the Port we catch a ferry about to depart repurposed to transfer migrants it's been taking hundreds of people off the island the past days 370 today their boats loaded with them any uh so those guys there are Egyptian
Lads from Alexandria in the north of Egypt they've been on the boat for 25 hours they arrived yesterday they set off through the night now they're going on this big commercial liner which is taking them off lampedusa and they'll next go to onwards to Sicily before being distributed throughout Italy last week lampedusa was overwhelmed with arrivals residents distributed food and water others protested that they're out of patience in three days eight thousand people arrived Around the Clock more than the population of the island and 20 times the capacity of the Migrant Center we take a
trip to see it we're the first International journalists to be let inside it's managed by the Red Cross and police have been drafted in from across Italy we're told people are free to leave but we don't see anyone do so it feels like they've tidied up the place and thrown us a party we try to speak to some of the migrants but each time we stopped from doing so and they won't explain why stop please stop putting them outside yeah okay it's impossible guys outside We join a briefing being held by the Red Cross what's
the red cross's message to politicians to the EU what are you calling for well we we are not making making policy during this day so it's not the job of the Red Cross what we're doing here is to support people in need and to go beyond the numbers and considering each of them as a human being that needs help but it's over capacity so you need more help the capacity of the center is is not the matter the the the real uh uh as whether the real mechanism that must work is this fact of the
transfer very quickly through the fence we managed to speak with Ahmed from Egypt he's waiting to be transferred how long did you spend on the boat three days was it difficult yeah hard yes why it was hard because you know it was just hard we're interrupted by two soldiers who Ahmed is quick to reassure he's asking me how things are and I'm telling him everything's fine and we're being provided for and so on I asked to talk with others but Ahmed tells me they're too scared to speak this tiny Camp no longer than 200 meters
has been thrust into the international political Arena after last week's surge Italy's Georgia Maloney visited the island with EU Chief Ursula vondelion announcing a 10-point plan Furman language but light on detail Maloney's government called the arrivals an invasion and an act of War fiery language but it seems to have brought attention and more resources meanwhile the EU is preparing to transfer a billion euros to nearby autocratic Tunisia to bolster its economy and stop boats leaving cracks however have been exposed in European cooperation the French government has now said it will refuse to take arrivals from
lampadusa [Applause] back in town locals are celebrating the Annual Festival for the Island's patron saint madona de Porto Salvo Mary protector of seafarers here we find the Island's mayor freshly returned from calling for Aid at the United Nations in New York the island has been living with this phenomenon for 30 years now but to Outsiders there is a perception that there's complete chaos here Islands in collapse Islands under attack this is not the case I'm not the one who can decide a solution because I'm just the mayor of a small island but we have to
choose whether to treat people all the same or not whether they are ukrainians fleeing war or African sling war and persecution do we treat them all the same or do we treat them according to the color of their skins pulled between International forces so much greater than its size what happens in lampedusa will be determined by power Brokers elsewhere this doesn't feel like an island in crisis or doomed to it its people don't use the language of violence like Italy's political leaders but they petition to confront the challenge to find Humane Solutions so that locals
who would offer seafarers protection and cast adrift
