16,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy this year

The Italian Interior Ministry said yesterday that the number of illegal immigrants who had arrived in the country has increased to reach nearly 16,000 immigrants since the beginning of this year.

The ministry said in its latest report that since 1 January, 15,852 illegal migrants and refugees have arrived in the country, an increase of 66.93 per cent compared with the same period in 2016, when 9,496 refugees and migrants arrived in the country.

According to the report, the number of unaccompanied minors who had arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year has reached 2,230 minors compared with 25,846 minors in all of 2016.

A majority of immigrants came from African countries including: Guinea, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, Gambia, Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cameroon.

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The report pointed out that the interior ministry has to deal with the immigrants’ needs where 2,600 Italian municipalities currently host nearly 200,000 immigrants and refugees.

Last month the Italian government announced the allocation of €13 million ($13.8 million) over three years to build and manage new reception centres for migrants and refugees.

According to the Italian Coast Guards, nearly 3,000 people have drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea since the start of 2016.