Tunisian Exodus Makes Waves
As reported by the BBC yesterday, thousands of Tunisian migrants are escaping their country’s continued unrest by relocating to the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily. Indeed the number of migrants on the island now exceeds 4,000- with over 1,000 arriving on Sunday alone.
The Italian government has declared a state of humanitarian emergency and is seeking assistance from the European Union, requesting that the EU’s border security agency provide support off the Tunisian coast. From the latest reports, however, it seems that Italy is being left to deal with the influx on its own and has begun to transport migrants to detention centers in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy, although the Tunisian government has agreed to work with Italy to solve the crisis.
According to Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, in addition to those escaping poverty and asylum in Tunisia, supporters of Al-Qaeda, terrorists, and criminals could be using this opportunity to get into Europe. Is it possible that Italy may have a Mariel boatlift on its hands?
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Nov '10
Re: Tunisian Exodus Makes Waves
A few days ago I actually wondered, idly, what was going on in Tunisia. It seems the world stopped paying attention to Tunisia once the Egyptian crisis got going. Is this post an indication that the Tunisian situation is not going very well? Or, since these numbers are actually pretty small, is this just a normal reaction to uncertainty and poverty?
Re: Tunisian Exodus Makes Waves
While it's true that the numbers are relatively small, keep in mind that this is only over the course of a few days. I'm curious to see what happens in the days and weeks to come.
Dec '10
Re: Tunisian Exodus Makes Waves
Isn't it more plausible, and more like likely, that, as opposed to "...those escaping poverty and asylum in Tunisia, supporters of Al-Qaeda, terrorists, and criminals...", most are supporters of the previous regime of Ben Ali?
Just asking. That's a long list, for it not to include them. Or are they included amongst the asylum seekers?