Overview
Between 1 January and 30 June 2019, 2,779 persons arrived in Italy by sea. This is an 83 per cent decrease compared to sea arrivals in the same period last year (16,577). In June 2019, 1,218 individuals reached Italian shore. This is the highest number of monthly sea arrivals this year so far, and corresponds to some 44 per cent of all sea arrivals to Italy in the first half of 2019.
Nationality of arrivals
In the first six months of 2019, 21 per cent of sea arrivals originated from Tunisia, followed by Pakistan (15 per cent), Algeria (10 per cent), Iraq (9 per cent), Côte d'Ivoire (8 per cent), Bangladesh (7 per cent), Sudan (3 per cent), Islamic Republic of Iran (2 per cent),
Morocco (2 per cent), and Guinea (2 per cent). In June 2019, the most common nationality arriving in Italy by sea was Tunisians, with 247 persons registered at landing points during the month. This corresponds to some 42 per cent of all Tunisian sea arrivals in 2019 so far. Most Tunisians depart from the Tunisian coast and reach the Italian island of Lampedusa. Furthermore, 194 Pakistani nationals reached Italian shores in June, mostly arriving autonomously in Apulia or Calabria having departed from Turkey and Greece. Iraqi nationals also often travel along the latter route: in June 2019, 87 Iraqi nationals were registered at landing points in southern Italy.
During the month, there were also considerable numbers of sea arrivals originating from Côte d’Ivoire (144), who reached southern Italy having departed from locations on the Libyan and Tunisian coasts. While lesser in numbers, sea arrivals originating from Sudan (41), Afghanistan (34), and Libya (14) were also recorded in June 2019.