The first migrant arrivals on Italian shores in 2020, from North Africa, disembarked on the southern coast of the island of Sardinia. Altogether 45 migrants have been transferred to reception centers.
Carabinieri police began searching for a group of migrants in the area of Piscinnì, in the municipality of Domusdemaria in the southwest subregion of Sulcis, on the evening of January 2. The search lasted more than two hours. The Carabinieri traced the migrants to provincial road 71, where they found seven people in the village of Porto Budello, in the municipality of Teulada, and another five people at a pizzeria several kilometers away.
Police have thus far been unable to locate the boat that transported the migrants, nor have they been able to locate the migrants' exact disembarkation point. The migrants were all Algerian men who appeared to be in good health and were not carrying any identification documents. Following initial procedures, the migrants were transferred to the migrant reception center (CAS) in the municipality of Monastir for identification.
Good weather facilitated arrivals
Another small group of four migrants was intercepted in Sant'Antioco on the Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo boardwalk by Carabinieri from the stations in Narcao and Carbonia. They had arrived in Sardinia shortly before that time on a small homemade wooden and fiberglass boat. The migrants were Algerian men who appeared to be in good health.
At the same time, Carabinieri intervened in another area of the island where 14 people had disembarked. Another group of 10 people - nine men and one woman - disembarked in Carloforte. In Potroscuso, police found another five migrants while the operation in Carloforte was underway. The five migrants managed to board a ferry but they were stopped. Experts said the new wave of arrivals is tied to good weather in recent days that allowed for an easy crossing from North Africa to Sardinia.
Altogether since the start of this year, 45 migrants have arrived on the island of Sardinia.