The number of refugee arrivals in Italy this year is already 80% higher than in the same period in 2015. At the UN’s Geneva conference on Syrian refugees last Wednesday (30 March), Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, announced that 3,700 people had been rescued over the previous five days alone. EurActiv Spain reports.

Gentiloni put the total number of asylum seekers having made the crossing in the first three months of 2016 at 18,234.

This is 80% more refugees than in the first three months of 2015, and concern in the country is growing. If the Ministry of the Interior’s estimates are correct, 270,000 refugees will reach the country this year.

The latest spike in arrivals from the Central Mediterranean route, which involves a boat crossing from Libya, is largely down to the arrival of good weather after a mild Easter. But the Italian authorities fear that new routes will open up from Greece and Turkey following the EU-Turkey agreement and the closing of the Macedonian border.

Crisis plan

According to the Italian media, the country’s Interior Ministry has been holding urgent discussions on a “crisis plan”, to include the establishment of new asylum centres, the adaptation of hotels or barracks and the installation of campsites in fields. With all the Italian reception centres currently full, the additional refugees will have to be spread out across the country.

Italy prepares for surge in refugees ? EurActiv.com