Newborn found dead on refugee boat off Italy's island of Lampedusa

The Italian Coast Guard discovered a dead newborn baby on a refugee boat carrying people to Lampedusa as hundreds of the island's residents demonstrated against a recent spike in arrivals.

This year, about 126,000 migrants and refugees entered Italy, a number that was twice in 2022 around the same time.

More people have arrived in Lampedusa this week alone than the island's permanent population, prompting cries for assistance from local lawmakers, reported ANSA.

According to the Italian Coast Guard, the infant was discovered during a rescue effort.

Earlier this week, a boat bringing migrants and refugees across the sea from North Africa capsized, Al Jazeera reported.

According to an EU official, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, will travel to the island on Sunday after accepting Giorgia Meloni's offer.

After thousands of refugees arrived by boat on Lampedusa over the course of three days this week, roughly 145 kilometres (90 miles) off the coast of Tunisia, Meloni has urged the EU to take action to ease the burden.

The discussion of how Europe divides responsibility for asylum seekers has been revived by the increase in migrant arrivals.

“President von der Leyen will be travelling to Lampedusa tomorrow on the invitation of Italian PM Meloni,” EU Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The interior ministers of France, Germany, and Italy and some EU representatives discussed migrant issues during a phone meeting on Saturday, French minister Gerald Darmanin said in a post on X.