The tiny island of Lampedusa just south of Sicily has been overwhelmed by people arriving by fishing boat and other small craft from Libya and Tunisia. Almost 19,000 migrants have arrived since January and 3,000 arrived in just three days with thousands more on their way.
The population of the peaceful island is around 5,300 and the main industry is fishing and tourism. The locals feel so helpless and angry, they have tried to blockade the harbour to keep more people from coming ashore. A sign which read "Enough, we are full' was held up by desperate local protesters.
A former mayor of the island said "If the ships promised by the government don't come tomorrow, there will be a total shut down and no one will be able to eat on the island, including the immigrants who arrived last night". There are now thousands of North African men living in tents on the hillsides, waiting to be taken to the mainland.
So far there has been no violence but it was reported that the Tunisians are starting to go into people's houses and threatening them for food. On Monday the Interior Ministry promised to send six large navy transport vessels to clear all the migrants from the island and take them to other parts of Italy.
Silvio Berlusconi has pledged more than 200 million euros in aid and credit lines to Tunisia and demanded that European Union partners contribute a solution, especially since many of the migrants want to go to other countries in Europe, especially France.
Most of the immigrants from Tunisia are young men looking for work in Europe. Hundreds of migrants have been moved to Mineo on the Sicilian mainland or to Manduria near Taranto on the heel of Italy where a tent city is being completed today. But many have escaped over the fences surrounding the camp and run away, only to be caught by police and brought back. And every day they just keep coming.
In the early 1970s academics like Erlich warned the population about Future shocks and educated students about the effects of the impending 'population bomb'. What a clever lot we inhabitants of Earth are ! To continue blindly serving the masters of capitalism and merchants of crap, who pedal dodgy short lived household items and create am irreversible hunger for more. By bowing to those who make personal fortunes trading economic commodities, we sacrifice the basis of life, fresh air, space and water. All this we give up to follow their mantra. Populate or perish, increase production, increase consumption and create wealth.. Are you kidding me ? Is anybody considering where this ever increasing growth is taking us .. I doubt it. Globalism and all its associated problems is an increasing dilemma that will change the face of the world as we know it. We should fear the emerging society that our grandchildren will inherit and mass human migration is only part of the changing landscape. What a monumental stuff up..
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