Migrants' routes change: in Spain, more landings than in Italy

The traffickers of human beings are heading west, because departures from Libya to Italy are now more controlled: the migrants landed in Major number in Spain compared to our country, which recorded a collapse of 87% of arrivals. The data is certified by Frontex and Oim although the most lethal trait remains that of the central of the Mediterranean : more than 1,100 deaths against 1,443 in total this year . The International Organization of Migration, as usual, puts the figures of migration to Europe in black and white. And for the first time, it signals a turnaround, in line with the Italian closure of arrivals. Thus, in the first seven months of 2018, just over 18,000 refugees landed on the Spanish coast, compared with 17,800 in Libya for Italy. Frontex notes even more clearly that there is a drastic reduction in arrivals in Italy, 87% less in June in a year, 3,000 refugees in total, while in Spain there is an increase of 166%, which equals 6,400 arrivals. In Italy, the breakthrough came with the Minniti plan which, from July to August 2017, reduced the departures of Libya through agreements with the government and local militias.

DIMENSIONS OF ARRIVALS OF MIGRANTS IN EUROPE

The changed image suffers above all from Andalusia where the police unions denounced the lack of means and coordination to cope with the arrivals, 700 only last weekend, and overcrowding of children's centers in coastal cities. The total number of landings, however, is clearly down from those of previous years. In 2018, for example, nearly 51,000 refugees arrived in Europe by sea, about half of the previous year. And the number of drownings has almost halved. This is also due to the greater commitment of the Libyan authorities to patrol the sea and filter the thousands of migrants arriving from Central Africa. With the economic support of the EU, and Italy in the forefront, also in terms of providing the means and badistance to coastguards.

The reinforcement of controls in Libya, and more recently the policy of closed ports in Italy, but also in Malta, has indeed forced traffickers to change course in the Mediterranean, focusing on western part to Spain. And since it is no longer possible to count on the rescue of NGOs, the old boats, more robust than the inflatable boats used in recent years, are removed. Many of them have not happened by chance in recent weeks, with dozens of dead, a few kilometers from the Libyan coast. In short, we are trying again to reach Europe directly. And as miserable as they are, fishing vessels are more likely to arrive at their destination.