More than 2,000 refugees arrive on Italy’s Lampedusa Island, overwhelming aid workers
Rome, May 11 (RHC)-- In Italy, more than 2,000 refugees — mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan and Syria — have arrived on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa within the past day. Hundreds of the asylum seekers were forced to sleep on an open-air dock after the local shelter surpassed its capacity. Hundreds more have been quarantined until they’re tested for COVID-19.
This comes after at least five refugees died Sunday when their boat capsized off the Libyan coast as they attempted to reach Europe. A humanitarian aid group said there could be a newborn baby among the dead.