There was a sharp decline in illegal migration to Italy in 2024, with almost 60 per cent fewer illegitimate migrants reaching the country than in 2023.
According to the latest official figures from the Italian interior ministry, 66,317 illegal migrants entered the country between January 1 and December 31, 2024.
That marked a steep drop compared to the year before, when 157,651 people illegally entered Italy. In 2022, that number stood at 105,131.
The biggest group of illegal migrants, with 13,779 people, hailed from Bangladesh: around 7,000 kilometres from Italy.
Some 12,504 people said they had come from Syria and 7,677 from Tunisia.
The number of unaccompanied minors also dropped from 18,820 in 2023 to 8,043 in 2024.
The decline could reflect the policies of the right-wing Italian Government headed by Georgia Meloni, which campaigned on the issue before coming to power.
Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi noted on X that the administration had “reduced arrivals of irregular migrants by 60 per cent compared to the previous year and by 38 per cent compared to 2022, even falling below those recorded in 2021.
“For the second year in a row, repatriations of deported migrants increased, with an increase this year of a further 16 per cent,” he added.
“These results are the result of targeted actions that we have put in place by the Viminale [interior ministry], including close co-operation with the police forces of the countries of origin and transit, which in two years has made it possible to stop the departures of 192,000 irregular migrants from Libya and Tunisia who were headed towards our shores.
“We are also supporting these same countries in the projects of assisted voluntary repatriation of migrants from their territories, repatriations that in 2024 amounted to over 21 thousand,” Piantedosi said.
“We have laid important foundations and next year we count on doing even better.”
Quello di quest’anno è un bilancio sicuramente positivo e lo dicono i numeri. Nel 2024 abbiamo ridotto gli arrivi di migranti irregolari del 60% rispetto all’anno precedente e del 38% rispetto al 2022, scendendo addirittura sotto a quelli che si erano registrati nel 2021. Per il… pic.twitter.com/MhMvmC77CW
— Matteo Piantedosi (@Piantedosim) December 31, 2024
Among government policies to curb migration was a tougher line on NGOs, some of which have been known to ship in illegal migrants from the coasts of Libya and Tunisia.
Under new regulations, NGOs have to bring migrants to designated ports and face detention if they do not follow orders from the authorities.
NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced in mid-December that it would cease its operations using the boat Geo Barents due to strict Italian laws that it said had made its operations “impossible”.
On January 1, 2025, though, the German NGO Sea-Watch launched its resolution titled “Until all borders fall’.
“Time passes, but the year 2024 has shown that hatred against people on the run is Europe’s despicable trend. Borders are deadly every day and brutality is growing,” the NGO said.
“We need radical resistance against ‘Fortress Europe’. We need radical solidarity with the people who cross borders every day. We need an uncompromising commitment to self-determination, dignity and the rights of all people on the move. ”
NGOs that ship migrants across the Mediterranean receive subsidies from the progressive German Government, which has caused tensions between Rome and Berlin.
2025 Vorsatz: Bis alle Grenzen fallen.
Die Zeit vergeht, aber das Jahr 2024 hat gezeigt: Hass gegen Menschen auf der Flucht ist Europas verachtenswerter Trend. Grenzen sind tagtäglich tödlich und die Brutalität wächst. pic.twitter.com/In2NZ8VVRk— Sea-Watch (@seawatchcrew) January 1, 2025
