From October until December last year the flow of migrants in the Italian city of Trieste alone has increased five times through the "Balkan route", according to the Prefect, Annunziato Verdé. He also adds that 120,000 Ukrainians fleeing from war arrived through the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2022.
Migrant arrivals at the border with Trieste have seen an exponential increase from 1,194 in the last three months of 2021 to 5,690 in 2022.
These are the figures made public by Annunciato Vardé, Italy's national government representative (Prefect) in Trieste, during a press conference.
The figures include migrants who entered illegally in Italy and those who presented themselves voluntarily to the authorities once in the country.
Specifically, in October those who entered were 2,104 migrants against 525 in 2021; in November 2,451 (against 470 in 2021) and in December 1,135 against 199 in 2021.
The Balkan route is 'improving'
Vardè defined the so-called Balkan route a "complex problem which, however, is improving". The Prefect's belief is that "in just a few months everything will be fixed. The general flows have doubled compared to 2021 with a high concentration in the last months of last year."
Vardé then shared that there were 120,000 Ukrainian citizens fleeing who transited through "Italy's entry gate", Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Italian north-eastern region of which Trieste is the capital.
Of the 120,000, specified the Prefect, initially 6,190 people stayed, they found lodging with friends or family or at the facilities provided by the institutions.
Little by little however they spread out through Friuli Venezia Giulia and at the moment only 280 persons are still at public sheltering facilities. At the same time, the flow of citizens arriving has reduced considerably. Vardé announced that the Scout Hostel of Campo Sacro di Prosecco (In the area of Carso Triestino) will soon be returned to the organization that manages it.