The Italian Coast Guard rescued 50 people overnight on December 21 after intercepting a boat off the southwest coast of the island of Lampedusa, near Isola dei Conigli (Rabbit island).

In a video posted on X, a handful of people, including a small child, were seen being ferried on a small inflatable lifeboat into the Italian Coast Guard's CP322.

According to the Coast Guard, the group included three women, a minor, and an infant. No other details regarding nationality or point of origin were given, but the Coast Guard did confirm that all the passengers were rescued and safely transported to Lampedusa, where they disembarked.  

The rescue was the latest around the small Italian island of Lampedusa, which lies in the central Mediterranean Sea.

At the start of this month, the Italian coast guard rescued a group of 45 people who set off on a metal boat from Sfax in Tunisia to Lampedusa. At least five people are believed to have died, stated the coast guard, including a minor. Those who perished are reported to have included two Senegalese nationals, two Gambians, and a person originally from Sierra Leone.

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Main landing point

Lampedusa has long been one of the main landing points for people attempting the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. Lampedusa is located 113 kilometers from the Tunisian coast, making it closer to Africa than to mainland Italy. The island's strategic location has transformed it into a first point of arrival for people escaping political persecution, conflict, and instability by attempting to enter Europe.

Over recent months, the Italian Coast Guard and Navy have carried out numerous rescues near Lampedusa and along other stretches of Italy’s southern maritime border, sometimes saving dozens of people at a time.

The latest data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) shows that there have been an estimated 65,613 people who arrived irregularly in Italy since the beginning of the year. An overwhelming majority were from Bangladesh (30 percent), Egypt (14 percent), and Eritrea (12 percent).

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Testing ground for EU migration policy

Beyond being at the frontlines of sea rescues and arrivals, Lampedusa is now also seen as a pilot site for the European Union’s new migration screening system, situated at the intersection of emergency response and long-term regulation

The new migration screening system, which forms part of the bloc’s wider Pact on Migration and Asylum, is being tested before it is scheduled to be implemented across the European Union (EU).

An estimated 240 people who had arrived irregularly on the island took part in the trial and the testing of the "Screening Toolbox," a standardized set of procedures designed to harmonize how people arriving without authorization are registered and checked at the EU’s external borders. The screening includes identity verification, health and vulnerability checks, the provision of information about asylum rights, and the collection of biometric data.

The new screening measures will become mandatory from June 2026 and will apply to all third-country nationals arriving irregularly at the EU’s external borders.

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