Italy: Italy Sea Arrivals Dashboard (February 2019)
Overview
Between 1 January and 28 February 2019, 262 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea, compared to 5,247 and 13,439 in the same period in 2018 and 2017, respectively. In February 2019, 60 persons reached Italian shores. During the month, there were five disembarkation events of comparatively small groups – ranging from 8 to 14 sea arrivals on the islands of Lampedusa, Pantelleria, and Sardinia.
Nationality of arrivals
In the first two months of 2019, 22 per cent of all arrivals originated from Bangladesh, followed by Tunisia (20 per cent), Algeria (15 per cent), Iraq (15 per cent), Senegal (7 per cent), Guinea (7 per cent), the Islamic Republic of Iran (5 per cent), Egypt (6 per cent), and Sudan (2 per cent). In the same period last year, the most common nationalities of sea arrivals were Eritrea, Tunisia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, Algeria, and Mali. While Tunisians continue to represent a significant percentage, their numbers dropped from 1,060 in the January-February 2018 period to 52 in the same period this year. Sea arrivals from Guinea also dropped from 177 to 18. Notably, in 2019 so far, there were no sea arrivals originating from Eritrea and only one sea arrival originating from Nigeria, Mali, and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively. In February 2019, persons arriving by sea in Italy originated from Algeria and Tunisia.
