Der UNHCR hat angekündigt, dass in Kürze viele Flüchtlinge aus Syrien und Somalia auf der süditalienischen Insel Lampedusa ankommen werden. Der italienische Staat hatte im Jahr 2011 einen Notstand gegenüber den angelandeten Boat-people aus Tunesien und Libyen organisiert, mit provozierter Obdachlosigkeit, fehlenden Decken und Nahrungsmitteln, mit Polizeiknüppeleinsätzen und schließlich mit dem Einsatz von Abschiebehaft-Schiffen. In einer Reihe von Aufständen hatten die drangsalierten Boat-people den dortigen Abschiebeknast auf der Militärbasis abgebrannt. Schließlich hatte die italienische Regierung Lampedusa zu einem „nicht sicheren Hafen“ erklärt und noch stärker abgeschottet.

AFP, 15 March 2012
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ROME — The UN’s refugee agency called on Italy Thursday to speed up preparations on the tiny island of Lampedusa for a possible new wave of refugees fleeing the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
„With ongoing crisis situations in various regions we know there are vast movements of people across borders,“ said Laura Boldrini, UNHCR spokeswoman. Some are heading to countries such as Libya and Tunisia which have served as departure points for boats of refugees headed for Lampedusa in the past.
„Lampedusa port has been declared unsafe and the welcome centre is unusable. The government needs to reactivate the facility and declare the zone safe. We’re not currently in a position to respond to an emergency,“ she said.
Rioting Tunisian migrants angered at their long detention in cramped conditions set fire to the island’s reception centre in September last year. Italy’s interior and integration policies ministers visited Lampedusa earlier this month and said that Italy „must not be caught off guard.“
„We hope that there will not be another immigration emergency, but we have to be prepared,“ integration policies minister Andrea Riccardi said, though he added: „The welcome centre will remain closed as long as it is unfit for use.“
Africans began fleeing for Lampedusa and other islands in the Pelagian archipelago – which lies closer to north Africa than to mainland Italy – when the conflict in Libya began early last year.
About 60,000 people landed in Italy last year, according to the UNHCR. Fears are that improvements in the weather could encourage others to attempt the dangerous crossing soon, especially with ongoing civil unrest in several areas, including Syria.