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The United Nations High Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs has released the figures: since January 1st, 2016, 203,981 migrants have arrived in Europe, 3/4 of whom are Syrians and Afghans who landed in Greece before the agreement with Turkey was reached.
The death toll stands at 2,510, compared to 1,855 during the same period in 2015. The journey from the African coast (Libya) to Italy has claimed the lives of 2,119. 46,714 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have arrived in Italy.
What future lies ahead for the migrants who have reached the Franco-Italian border?
Ventimiglia is becoming one of the symbolic locations, like Brenner, Calais, and Idomeni, of an Europe that raises walls and closes borders.
After the official closure of the Red Cross facilities, the makeshift camp under the Roya bridge has been dismantled in Ventimiglia. The migrants left of their own accord.
But what is the future for the estimated 300 people who are moving from place to place, waiting for a solution that might never come?
In the face of the standoff between the mayor of Ventimiglia responding to the demands of residents and merchants asking for the restoration of order and normalcy, the Ministry of the Interior responding with police action, and the No Borders volunteer association supporting the migrants?
For now, temporary solutions are in place: the Red Cross is distributing meals, and a local parish priest has provided a room for the night.
Once again, it is the Bishop of Ventimiglia-Sanremo, Monsignor Antonio Suetta, who will step in by offering a place in the courtyard of the Bordighera seminary to set up a camp for about a hundred people.
Naturally, this comes with the opposition of the right-wing mayor of this town, who demands compliance with … safety and hygiene standards.
Amid residents who want order to walk without disturbance, merchants who want their businesses unhindered by chaos, the lack of an effective and thorough organization, humanitarian volunteers, and the well-to-do citizens, the summer promises to be hot. And not just because of the weather forecast predicting a new temperature record.
Moreover, Europol declares that criminal organizations made 6 billion euros in revenue from the trafficking of migrants in 2015.
It is, unsurprisingly, “the fastest-growing criminal sector.”
More striking: 6 billion is about seven times more than what the 28 EU countries spend annually on combating illegal immigration.
On the other hand, the number of migrants who have been accepted according to state-determined rules stands at 2,000, against a target of 160,000.
The die is cast.
