Italy received over 50,000 migrants coming from Libya in 2023

An Italian government official says four smugglers brandishing Kalashnikovs threatened an Italian Coast Guard motorboat that had just rescued migrants off the coast of Libya, where the security is rapidly deteriorating.

Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said the gunmen had sped to the scene Sunday afternoon aboard a small boat some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Libyan shores. After threatening the Coast Guard rescuers who had taken aboard the migrants, three of the smugglers jumped aboard the then-empty migrants’ boat to reclaim it and took off. In all, nearly 2,200 migrants were rescued in several operations Sunday, the Coast Guard said. They were being taken to Italian ports.
Italy has received 157,551 irregular migrants through several migration routes crossing the Mediterranean during the past year, including 51,986 migrants coming from Libya, according to an Italian security report.

The number of migrants to Italy increased by about 50% compared to 2022, and the maximum peak in the number of arrivals in 2023 was recorded in August with the arrival of 25,673 immigrants, according to the report published by the AKI Agency.

The Tunisian migration route ranked first with 97,667 immigrants, then the Libyan route, followed by Turkey with 7,153 migrants, Algeria 620 migrants, and Lebanon 214 migrants.