A visit by European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso to the small Italian island of Lampedusa began on a hostile note when a crowd of people gathered to launch verbal abuse and accusations, calling him a “killer”.
The island suffered a devastating shipwreck tragedy along its shore on October 3 that killed almost 300 immigrants who were attempting to make their way into Europe.
A temporary count puts the death toll at 289, and despite the survival of 155 people, dozens more are expected to be dead. Rescuers are still searching the wreck.
Barroso was invited and accompanied by Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who was also targeted by the angry crowd.
The two politicians were insulted all the way from the island’s airport to the location where the 289 victims’ bodies of last week’s tragedy are being kept and where Barroso made a speech.
“Europe stands alongside the people of Lampedusa. The problem of one of our countries, like Italy, should be seen as a problem of all of Europe,” he said, in a press conference on the island at the end of a three-hour long visit.
The former Portuguese prime minister added: “The Commission knows that the European Union cannot accept thousands of people dying along its borders. Together we can respond in a more adequate way. Europe cannot turn away. This tragedy shows that it is indispensable to step up our efforts.”
European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, who was also present as a member of the EC, announced that the EU would be providing Italy with €30 million to help it settle the migrant population.
There are reports, however, that the tension is palpable on the island.
Surviving immigrants have been demanding transfer from the immigrant shelter to a location with better conditions, but the Italian government has kept them on the island.
“It is unsustainable. At the shelter, the conditions are unacceptable, it is a disgrace,” a resident of the island said. “There are so many children. We try to help, but we don’t have the means”.
The centre for immigrants on the island that houses some 1,000 people is reported to have only 250 beds.
