Migrants wait at the port to be transferred to the mainland, on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, September 15, 2023.
REUTERS/Yara Nardi Acquire Licensing RightsGENEVA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency on Friday said it was imperative that the thousands of migrants who have arrived in recent days on the Italian island of Lampedusa be relocated because of its limited resources.
Around 7,000 migrants arrived on the shore of the small island in a two-day period, prompting pleas for help from Italy.
"It's imperative to move people off the island because the resources there, the capacity is so limited," said UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh.
It is hard to identify a single factor behind this recent spike in migrant arrivals on Lampedusa, Saltmarsh said.
Persons:
Yara, Matthew Saltmarsh, Saltmarsh, Cécile Mantovani, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Kevin Liffey
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Authorities, Refugees, UNHCR, European Union, Thomson
Locations:
Lampedusa, Italy, Sicily, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Malta