Lampedsua: After crossing the Mediterranean Sea, many migrants experience Europe for the first time at the reception centre on the Italian island of Lampedusa. For those who arrive, it is a grim, hopeless place.
Humanitarian workers have described flooded bathrooms, a lack of food and water, and chronic overcrowding that resulted in men, women, and children sleeping on filthy mattresses outside.
According to the UN's migration agency, three migrants have passed away in the centre in recent months amid claims of a life-threatening lack of doctors.
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The government invited the Italian Red Cross on June 1, and they have promised to give the tens of thousands of people who come each year from North Africa hoping for a better life a more respectful welcome.
Despite the removal of tonnes of trash and the installation of new restrooms, a bad smell is still present. Rows of contemporary cots are prepared to almost double the site's emergency capacity, and a new medical team is in place.
In an effort to relieve pressure on a facility designed to house 389 people but regularly housing more than 3,000, efforts are also being made to expedite transfers off the island.
"We are at the entrance to Europe. Of course, our goal is... Ignazio Schintu, director of the Red Cross for emergencies, stated during a media tour this week that the organization's goal will be to restore the dignity that was frequently lacking to those who arrive in Italy.
Lampedusa, renowned for its white sand beaches, has long been a popular summer vacation spot and continues to do so.
It has nonetheless turned into one of the first ports of call for the wave of migrants travelling across the Mediterranean, despite being only 90 miles (roughly 145 kilometres) off the coast of Tunisia. Out of the 105,000 migrants who arrived in Italy last year, more than 46,000 made landfall on Lampedusa, according to the UN refugee agency. A small fleet of police and coast guard boats are moored alongside fishermen and day-trippers in the charming old harbour. They are called out almost every day to meet the migrant boats approaching the coast when the weather is good and the sea is calm. Arrivals receive food, water, clothing, and medical attention at the hotspot for reception. There is also access to a phone and a charging station.
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According to Francesca Basile, head of migration for the Red Cross, "Wi-Fi and connection... is one of the first requests that they make of us" so they can inform family members back home that they are safe.
Sadly, she told AFP that her team also assists families who are "looking for someone that is not present anymore" by "clarifying the fate of dead bodies or missing persons."
According to the UN agency for migration, more than 1,000 migrants have passed away in the central Mediterranean this year so far.
Before, migrants could come and go as they pleased, but now the centre is enclosed by a high fence and guarded by soldiers on patrol outside.
A group of young Tunisian men were conversing at trestle tables underneath a gazebo in the space between the prefabricated buildings.
With or without their families, many of those detained here are teenagers or young children, and they are detained separately from adult men.
A few trees provide shade, and there are several playground items installed. One wall is covered with the alphabet's letters and a few Italian words. Although the new right-wing government in Rome recently removed the requirement for migrant centres to offer such services, psychologists are still available to assist the most vulnerable.
The coalition led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was elected in October, in large part thanks to a pledge to halt mass immigration into Italy.
However, more than 53,000 individuals from nations like Ivory Coast have already arrived this year, up from 21,000 at the same time in 2022.
A law passed by the government to expedite the processing of arrivals sparked warnings that migrants' rights must be upheld.
Additionally, it has promised to upgrade and expand the reception facilities. This week, Meloni's emergency migration commissioner visited Lampedusa to support the Red Cross, which took over management of the facility from a cooperative group.
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The objective is to move new arrivals off of Lampedusa within a day or two to facilities on the mainland where they can be properly processed. The police have their own building in the centre.
The day following the media tour, AFP witnessed the transportation of numerous young men to the port and onto a ferry bound for Sicily. Mohammed, 26, claimed to have travelled to Libya via Bangladesh to AFP. When asked how he felt to be in Italy, he did not know where he was going, but he responded with a big smile, "Good."