Italian intelligence agencies have warned of a new surge of migrants in the coming weeks, stating at that least 20,000 migrants are ready to leave Libya and head for Europe.
The claims were made public by former Italian interior minister and populist Senator Matteo Salvini who stated: “Our secret services launch the invasion alarm, with at least 20,000 immigrants ready to leave for Italy.”
Salvini went on to add that the warning comes as the leftist Italian government has offered temporary amnesty for illegal immigrants and has opened ports to migrant transport NGOs, Italian newspaper Il Giornale reported on Monday.
The report comes as migrant transport NGO Sea-Watch has again set sail over the weekend for the Libyan search and rescue (SAR) zone located several miles off the country’s coast.
“The SeaWatch3 sets sail! After more than three months in the port of Messina, we are finally heading to the search and rescue zone north of the Libyan coast again, where we are urgently needed,” the organisation wrote on Saturday.
According to Il Giornale, migrant landings have significantly increased since the start of this year until June 5th with 5,461 new arrivals compared to 1,878 last year. That number is even with the severe lockdown measures imposed by Italy to fight the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
Italian media have also raised the possibility that a new wave of migrants could be used by Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj to “blackmail” the leftist coalition government into giving greater support in their conflict with the forces led by General Khalifa Haftar.
The claims expressed by Senator Salvini come just over a week after a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report claimed that as many as 650,000 migrants were currently in Libya and looking to leave for Europe.
“Information from Libya, where around 650,000 migrants and refugees are currently registered, suggests that the Covid-19 public health crisis has not discouraged people from trying to reach Europe,” the report stated.