ITALY: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Italian prime minister Enrico Letta are heckled as they arrive on the island of Lampedusa following the deaths of hundreds of African migrants a week ago

Record ID: 348621

  • Title: ITALY: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Italian prime minister Enrico Letta are heckled as they arrive on the island of Lampedusa following the deaths of hundreds of African migrants a week ago
  • Date: 9th October 2013
  • Summary: LAMPEDUSA, ITALY (OCTOBER 9, 2013) (REUTERS) EUROPEAN COMMISSION (EC) PRESIDENT, JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER, ENRICO LETTA, ITALIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, ANGELINO ALFANO, AND EC INTERNAL AFFAIRS COMMISSIONER CECILIA MALMSTROM WALKING ALONG TARMAC DIGNITARIES ENTER HANGAR WHERE COFFINS HOUSED HANGAR WHERE COFFINS ARE HOUSED VARIOUS PEOPLE SHOUTING AT POLICE IN
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA2E06KMOJH9MS6GMWEQJNP77KJ
  • Story Text: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was greeted by angry shouts from local residents as he arrived on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday (October 9).
    Barroso arrived on the island in the morning with Italian Prime MInister Enrico Letta, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and EC Internal Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. Their first port of call was a visit to a hangar at the airport, temporary home to hundreds of coffins housing the bodies of migrants killed in last week's tragedy.
    Close to the wire fence at the airport perimeter, local residents held up photos of migrants and shouted; "Idiots, Idiots" as the group of dignitaries came into view.
    More than three hundred people are believed to have drowned after a packed migrant boat caught fire and capsized last Thursday (October 3) , just 1 kilometre from their destination, the island of Lampedusa. The confirmed death total rose to 274 the Coast Guard said after 43 more bodies were recovered on Tuesday (October 8), while 155 survivors are currently being housed at the local holding centre on the island.
    Italy is asking for more European Union support in order to deal with the influx of migrants and an overhaul of the bloc's immigration rules.
    Lampedusa, a tiny island halfway between Sicily and Tunisia, has become one of the main entry points for clandestine migrants from Africa into southern Europe, with tens of thousands arriving in unsafe and overcrowded boats over recent years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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