In the first six months of 2024, the arrivals of immigrants in Italy decreased by 62% compared to the same period in 2023, according to data released by Rome’s interior ministry. At the same time, in the so-called Balkan Route, the reduction is of the order of 75%.

In the same period, from January to the end of June, compared to last year, the repatriation of illegal immigrants also increased immigrants from Italy to their countries of origin: from 2,572 they reached 3,079.

The Italian government adds that in the first six months of this year, the departure of 60,000 migrants from Libya and Tunisia bound for the coasts of Calabria, Sicily and Puglia was prevented.

However, many NGOs underline, especially in relation to Libya, that the conditions of detention and the treatment of immigrants and refugees are not compatible with international law and human rights.

A decrease in arrivals in the same time period was also recorded on the small island of Lampedusa, a symbol of immigration. The first half of last year was 58,000, while this year they did not exceed 21,000.

Increase in immigration flows to Spain and Greece

In the same period, immigrant arrivals in Spain increased by 153% compared to 2023, while in Greece by 57%. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piandendozzi said that in the first 180 days of this year, 118 human traffickers were arrested in Italy. The increase in arrests on an annual basis reaches 10%.

At the end of the month, the much-publicized cooperation of the Meloni government with Albania on immigration is probably expected to begin. According to information, after two postponements, in two to three weeks it is possible that the two closed centers in Shenzhen and Giarder in northern Albania will begin to operate for the identification and mandatory stay of immigrants who request political asylum from Italy.

As announced, the UNHCR is going to check with its own staff whether in these centers “the rights and dignity of those transferred to them are respected”. The specific Italian-Albanian agreement has been described by Amnesty International as “dangerous and illegal”.