Cerberus, the record-breaking heatwave that struck the Mediterranean, was followed this week by another one called Charon – after the mythical boatman who ferried the dead across the Styx to Hades. Meanwhile illegal migrants continue to be ferried across the Mediterranean in record numbers to Italy – thus to Europe – by people traffickers. Relatives placed a single obol, it is said, in the mouths of the dead to pay Charon for the voyage. The living pay the traffickers €3,000 to €10,000, it is said, for theirs.
In April, Italy’s conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared Italy’s migrant crisis a national emergency. So far this year 75,000 illegal migrants have arrived here by boat – more than double the number who arrived in the same period in 2022. This year’s total looks set to exceed the 2016 record of 181,436.
The European Union signed a deal on Sunday by which it hands over immediately €105 million to Tunisia to help stop the flow of migrants to Italy and £150 million in aid as the first part of its planned €1 billion aid and investment package for the crisis-torn country.
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