![Migrants from Tunisia arrive to an Italian island 10 April 2017 [FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Tunisia-migrants-arrive-to-Italy.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Some 80 Tunisian migrants have arrived on Italy’s southern island of Lampedusa, Italian security sources reported yesterday.
The sources told the local AKI newspaper that the first eight immigrants had docked on Lampedusa’s coast as the Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese was visiting the island on Monday.
“The other 70 immigrants arrived later on Monday after they were rescued by the coast guards,” the sources added.
Emigration from Tunisia has been on the rise as a result of the financial instability in the country. Between 2011 and 2018, EU assistance to Tunisia amounted to over €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion), including over €1.7 billion ($2 billion) in grants and €800 million ($922 million)in macro-financial assistance, in an effort to help boost the economy and encourage the creation of jobs to entice Tunisians to remain in their country and not make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.
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