Lampedusa immigrant reception center

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 14 April 2005 calling on the Italian authorities "to refrain from collective expulsions of asylum seekers and 'irregular migrants' to Libya".

[5] In 2009, the overcrowded conditions at the island's temporary immigrant reception centre came under criticism by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

[10] The situation has caused division within the EU, the French government regarding most of the arrivals as economic migrants rather than refugees in fear of persecution.

[11] The Libyan ambassador to Italy stated that Gaddafi controlled illegal migration to meet his goals: "he wanted to turn Lampedusa black with Africans".

[9] In October 2013, the center accommodated the survivors of the shipwreck of a boat carrying migrants from Eritrea, Somalia and elsewhere, which capsized offshore, resulting in least 300 deaths.

Migrants arriving on the Island of Lampedusa in August 2007
Cross made with wood of broken immigration boats in Lampedusa