Iraq News Now

Overview

Between 1 January and 31 March 2019, 524 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea, compared to 6,296 and 24,292 in the same period in 2018 and 2017, respectively. In March 2019, 262 individuals reached Italian shores. This is the highest number of monthly sea arrivals since the beginning of 2019 (in January and February 2019, 202 and 60 refugees and migrants arrived by sea, respectively.

Nationality of arrivals

In the first three months of 2019, 26 per cent of sea arrivals originated from Tunisia, followed by Algeria (15 per cent), Iraq (12 per cent), Bangladesh (11 per cent), Guinea (7 per cent), Senegal (6 per cent), Somalia (5 per cent), the Islamic Republic of Iran (4 per cent),

Nigeria (2 per cent), and Eritrea (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, Sudan, Guinea, Senegal, and Mali. Eritrean sea arrivals decreased dramatically from over 1,550 in the first three months of 2018 to 11 in the January-March 2019 period. Furthermore, while Tunisians continue to represent a significant percentage among new arrivals, their numbers dropped from 1,190 in January-March 2018 to 137 in the same period this year, of whom over 80 arrived in March 2019. Other sea arrivals originating from sub-Saharan and western African countries, such as Nigeria, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal, who most commonly travel through Libya, have dropped in numbers from 200 to 400 in the first three months of 2018, to less than 40 per national group in the same period this year. Iraqi sea arrivals, who most commonly travel via Turkey and/or Greece, have also decreased (62 in January-March 2019, compared to 168 in January-March 2018).