Italy: 6 illegal migrants dead, 40 missing in shipwreck off Lampedusa Island

EU open-door immigration advocates — from globalist leaders to people-smugglers — are to blame for the repeated drownings that happen as a result of the people-smugglers transporting mostly Muslim illegal migrants from African countries to Italy.

Illegals continue to make their way to Europe via Italy. Far too many Western countries have been lax about illegals from the Middle East and Africa for too long. Now these countries have only a slim chance to maintain their free societies into the future, given their own low birthrates. Consider that since 2015, over 2.39 million illegal Muslim migrants have reached Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. And Muslim countries have high birth rates.

Even given the danger of crossing the Mediterranean in light of the six migrants who died and 40 more missing, in 2023 alone, over 2,000 people, including about 289 children, died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to get into the EU. In 2024, 2,200 died. But that hasn’t stopped them. In 2023, about 380,000 illegals arrived in the EU via the Mediterranean. Also, consider the tens of thousands that go missing or whom the EU lost track of.

“Migrants pay smugglers between 1,500 and 5,000 Tunisian dinars (roughly $500-$1,600) for a spot on the dangerous boats.” A PBS report in 2023 stated that “demand is still growing despite the risk, and not just for Italy,” but for Spain and Greece, too. The most generous EU countries for welfare benefits which encourage illegals are France, Finland, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain, in that order. As for Greece, it is an easy gateway to Western Europe, given its large coastline (the longest on the Mediterranean basin) and many islands.

A new EU migrant smuggling law came into effect three months ago, but it remains to be seen whether it will serve as a deterrent. Likely not, since the EU has never taken illegal migration seriously.

“Six migrants die, 40 missing in shipwreck off Italy’s Lampedusa, UNHCR says,” Reuters, March 19, 2025:

ROME, March 19 (Reuters) – At least six migrants have died and 40 were missing after a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, a spokesperson for the United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
The Italian coastguard said separately it intervened after being alerted to a rubber dinghy in distress on Tuesday, finding 10 survivors and six bodies. The coastguard said search and rescue efforts were continuing on Wednesday.

With bad weather making operations more difficult, the coastguard said it was being supported by aircraft supplied by the army and the police, as well as the European Union’s border agency Frontex.
A UNHCR spokesperson said survivors told rescuers that many among a group of 56 migrants – from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Mali – fell into the water due to bad weather a few hours after setting off from the Tunisian city of Sfax.
The rescued migrants were being assisted in Lampedusa by the UNHCR and its partner agency the International Rescue Committee (IRC), while the Italian Red Cross was providing psychological support, the spokesperson added….