Italy has seen 30,695 people arrive at its shores so far this year, almost four times the number from the same period in 2022. The number of people getting on boats heading towards Italy from Tunisia is on the rise this year, overtaking Libya as the main country of departure. The majority of people leaving Tunisia and arriving in Italy are from sub-Saharan Africa, with 4,000 from the Ivory Coast, and 3,300 from Guinea, according to Federico Fossi, senior public information associate at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Italy.

The state of emergency in Italy will last for about six months and provide €5m to regions in the south of Italy to help deal with arrivals, Italy’s cabinet said. This will be used to create “new structures, suitable both for sheltering as well as the processing and repatriation of migrants who don’t have the requisites to stay.” According to Matteo Salvini, now Deputy Prime Minister, “Europe needs to wake up and intervene: for years it has been talking without ever moving a finger, and now it’s the time to show that there’s a community, a Union, and solidarity doesn’t fall just on Italy, Spain, Greece or Malta.”

Elsewhere in the continent, the number of people crossing the sea to Spain this year has reached around 4,800, and in Greece, it is about 3,800. Meanwhile, English Channel crossings are just under 4,900, according to the Home Office.

For further information, read press releases, including "Italy state of emergency: Map shows migrant hotspots as Mediterranean crossings jump 305%" or "Why has Italy declared a state of emergency over migration? What impact will it have?".