Word: lampedusa
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Every Mediterranean seaside destination has its own particular appeal: the soft sands of Mykonos, cliffside views in Portofino, non-stop nightlife in St. Tropez. The tiny island of Lampedusa, the southernmost dot on Italy's map, is prized above all for the crystal clarity of its turquoise waters. But this same stretch of Mediterranean is rapidly acquiring a much darker notoriety. Once again this summer, as both Italian and foreign sun-lovers soak up their beach holidays, boatloads of would-be immigrants from North Africa have been aiming for Lampedusa's coastline in a desperate attempt to reach European shores...
...others over the past three years, the mostly sub-Saharan African victims had embarked with the promise of safe passage into European Union territory from human traffickers who charge several thousand dollars for the two-day journey. Officials estimate that this year nearly 10,000 aspiring immigrants have reached Lampedusa, a rocky 9.6 sq. mi. island that sits between Sicily and North Africa. At least 11 died in July near the island of Malta, before the latest two incidents. On Sunday, 10 bodies were recovered after a boat with more than 30 immigrants overturned south of Lampedusa. That came...
...illegal immigrants - and the accompanying tragedies of those who don't make it - ebbs and flows all along the Mediterranean coastline. But several routes have become favorites of the traffickers, both for the relative proximity to the poverty of Africa and for the ability to evade authorities. Beyond Lampedusa, the Canary Islands, part of Spanish territory, continues to be flooded with the arrival of makeshift, precarious boats called cayucos or pateras. In the past three days alone, more than 1,300 immigrants have arrived in the Canaries, mostly from countries like Senegal, Mauritania and Cape Verde, bringing this year...
...Still, it is evident that Europe needs a better strategy than relying on the good will of sunbathers. Italian officials responded to the deaths off Lampedusa by calling on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to live up to agreements to tighten patrols along his country's coastline. Many believe Gaddafi cynically uses the threat of "opening the spigot" on the droves of sub-Saharan Africans gathering on Libyan shorelines in order to gain concessions on outstanding diplomatic questions, including Italian reparations for past colonial injustices. Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo P?rez Rubalcaba is traveling today to Senegal and Mauritania to meet with...
...Still, the issue of illegal immigration - and the emergency of the waterbound Africa-Europe journey - is a problem that requires a broader and longer vision. Ruggiero Giuliani, medical coordinator for Italy's branch of M?decins Sans Fronti?res, the only NGO operating on Lampedusa, says that push-and-pull pressures mean that people will continue to risk their lives for a shot at a living wage. "The migratory flow depends on the conditions of the country of origin, the countries of transit, and the country of destination," he says. "There is extreme poverty at one end, and a demand for manpower...