As of the end of August 2022, Italy had received a total of 98,740 migrants into its reception system for that year.

One year later, that number stands at 136,000 -- an increase of nearly 40,000.

Notably, the number of migrants that have arrived by sea is double that of 2022.

Protests continue in the areas where the interior ministry has ordered the transfer of migrants from the ports where they disembarked.

Alarm bells from Veneto, request from Emilia-Romagna

"Veneto has reached the limit," said regional governor Luca Zaia, while his counterpart for the Emilia-Romagna region, Stefano Bonaccini, called on Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi to set up a permanent roundtable between the central and regional governments "to decide together on measures that represent a concrete, shared solution on the issue of reception."

The minister has said he plans to meet with the national association for Italian municipalities (ANCI) this week -- probably on September 7 -- while bilateral talks with regional governments continue.

Last Friday (September 1), Piantedosi held a meeting with Vito Bardi, the governor of Italy's southern region of Basilicata, expressing his "maximum willingness" to engage in dialogue.

The migration issue continues to pose challenges for the government, especially following Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's decision to focus on it within the Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic.

League party member Zaia has lashed out, saying that "migrants are an emergency" and scoffing at the idea "that 9,000 migrants are ordinary management."

"It is in this way that we have reached the maximum limits of sustainability. Beyond this we cannot go," he underscored.

Echoing his words was Bonaccini, who has requested a meeting with Piantedosi and urged the opening of a roundtable discussion with regional governments to address several key issues, including equitable distribution of migrants at the national level, especially considering the current uneven distribution among regions; allocation of funds to municipalities for hosting unaccompanied minors; and a review of the current specifications for effective management of reception facilities.

Lombardy hosts largest number of migrants

At the moment, Italy's Lombardy region hosts the largest number of migrants with 17,430. Following are Emilia-Romagna (12,898), Piedmont (12,062), Lazio (11,672), Sicily (11,263), and Campania (10,386).

In July, new criteria for redistribution among regions were introduced via a circular sent to prefects. Under the new system, 70% of migrants will be allocated based on the number of residents in the region, while 30% will be allocated based on the surface area. This marks a change from the previous method, which relied solely on surface area for distribution decisions.

Meanwhile, after severe overcrowding seen in recent days, the Lampedusa hotspot has been largely cleared of residents. As of Monday morning only 160 people remained at the facility. Poor weather conditions presumably led to a sharp drop in boats arriving.