Lampedusa

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Lampedusa
Oblique aerial view of Lampedusa
Oblique aerial view of Lampedusa
Waters Mediterranean Sea
Archipelago Pelagic Islands
Geographical location 35 ° 30 '35 "  N , 12 ° 36' 0"  E Coordinates: 35 ° 30 '35 "  N , 12 ° 36' 0"  E
Location of Lampedusa
length 8 kilometers
surface 20 km²
Highest elevation Albero Sole
113  m slm
Residents 4500 (2005)
225 inhabitants / km²
main place Lampedusa
View of the town of Lampedusa
View of the town of Lampedusa

Lampedusa is the largest of the Pelagic Islands in the Mediterranean between Sicily and Tunisia . The island belongs to the municipality of Lampedusa e Linosa in the Italian Free Municipal Consortium of Agrigento .

geography

location

Lampedusa is around 205 kilometers south of Sicily and on the shortest route 138 kilometers east of the Tunisian coast, about the same width as the city of Monastir .

Lampedusa is the southernmost island in Italy. There are more southern points of the EU and Europe in the Mediterranean. a. on Gavdos .

description

Steep coast in the northeast of Lampedusa
Coastal section of Lampedusa

The area is about 20 km², the highest point is Albero Sole with 113  m slm

The nine kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide island stretches in an east-west direction. The north coast is characterized by steep cliffs, on the south coast there are several bays with sandy beaches.

The main town of the island on the south coast is also called Lampedusa. In 2005 around 4,500 people lived permanently on Lampedusa, but up to 10,000 temporarily during the main travel season. The residents live from tourism , fishing and the production of canned fish.

Climate / vegetation

Lampedusa has a typical Mediterranean climate. Thanks to its position on the European continent and geologically belonging to Africa , the island has one of the highest average temperatures in the Mediterranean (22.3 ° C). Even in February the average temperature is 15 ° C. The annual rainfall is very low at 300 mm.

The interior of the island is deserted by clearing and the lack of source rivers.

Neighboring islands

Isola dei Conigli

45 km northeast of Lampedusa is the inhabited island of Linosa , 17 km northwest of the uninhabited island of Lampione . The small island Isola dei Conigli (Eng. Rabbit Island ) is located off the south coast .

natural reserve

At the Isola dei Conigli and in the bays of Lampedusa, the loggerhead turtles , which are threatened with extinction, seek their places to lay their eggs. In order to preserve the turtle population, parts of Lampedusa and the Isola dei Conigli were placed under nature protection in 2002 .

history

On Lampedusa (formerly Lopadusa , from Phoenician-Greek Lopadoussa ) there are traces of Greek (they had two or three towers there), Roman, Byzantine and Arab settlements. In addition, the island often served as a base for seafarers. However, most of the islands belonging to Sicily, such as Lampedusa, had been uninhabited since the Norman period, i.e. the 11th century. This is how Idrisi reports from the uninhabited islands. In 812/813 Lampedusa was the victim of an attack by Muslim pirates who came on 13 ships. Since the Byzantine fleet succeeded in sinking the enemy ships, Lampedusa is likely to have remained Byzantine for a few years. The Byzantine settlement can only be proven archaeologically until the end of the 7th century. However, there was a chapel dedicated to St. Mary, and the island, on which there are still traces of settlement, may have provided refuge for fugitive slaves from North Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries.

In September 1843, the captain Bernardo Maria Sanvisente, an envoy from Ferdinand II , went ashore with 120 men and women to settle the island permanently. The previously changing island name 'Lampedusa' also comes from Sanvisente.

During the Second World War, the island was a strategically important point target of bombing raids (" Operation Corkscrew "). On June 13, 1943, the Italian occupation of the island surrendered without a fight.

In 1986, Lampedusa was hit by two R-17 rockets, believed to have been fired from Libya in response to the US Air Force attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi ( Operation El Dorado Canyon ). There were no injuries.

Station on the escape route across the Mediterranean

In the course of the Arab Spring and the international military operation in Libya , Lampedusa developed, due to its proximity to North Africa, to a stopover where migrants flee across the Mediterranean . After the unrest in North Africa at the beginning of 2011 ( Arab Spring ), especially after the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, thousands of refugees reached Lampedusa by sea in a short time. The then government of Italy ( Berlusconi IV ) thereupon declared a humanitarian emergency and, through Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, criticized the inaction of other European countries on this issue.

After the number of refugees rose to almost 6,000 in March 2011, the Italian Navy began disembarking them for Sicily and mainland Italy. According to a plan by the Berlusconi government, the island should be relieved and at the same time the Italian regions should accept 1,000 refugees per million inhabitants, a total of up to 50,000 people.

In 2011, long-time dictator Gaddafi was overthrown in Libya ; In 2014 a civil war that lasted for years began in Libya . This resulted in further escape movements. Also from 2014, people who fled Syria by land to North Africa before the civil war used the central Mediterranean route via Lampedusa, Malta or Sicily to flee.

Pope Francis visited the island on July 8, 2013. He drew attention to the suffering of the boat refugees and remembered the dead with a wreath that he threw into the sea. Together with around 10,000 people, he celebrated a mass in the island's stadium.

On October 3, 2013, a cutter loaded with around 545 refugees from Somalia and Eritrea sank off Lampedusa and came from the Libyan port city of Misrata (→ boat accident in front of Lampedusa 2013 ). After an engine failure, according to witnesses, the captain set a blanket on fire as an emergency signal. The fire got out of hand. The ship overturned due to the panic of the crowded passengers. The Italian coast guard and local fishermen saved 155 people. An estimated 390 people drowned. The Tunisian captain was arrested for multiple willful manslaughter and average .

The Italian public prosecutor's office initiated investigations into the survivors for illegal immigration .

On October 11, 2013, a further 34 refugees drowned between Malta and Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea, and 206 people were rescued from a capsized boat by the Maltese Navy . Archbishop Reinhard Marx said: "Even if Europe cannot accept everyone, we must not let anyone die at the borders." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demanded that the international community must prevent such tragedies; the human rights of the refugees must be protected.

In 2015 and 2016, far more migrants attempted the crossing than in previous years (→ refugee crisis in Europe since 2015 ). In August 2017, the number of people arriving in Lampedusa fell sharply.

At the end of June 2019, Lampedusa again came into the focus of attention through the case of Carola Rackete , the captain of Sea-Watch 3 . After taking in 53 refugees off the Libyan coast , which Rackete rescued from distress on June 12, 2019 , she entered the port of Lampedusa on the night of June 29, 2019 without a permit and brushed against a Guardia di Finanza speedboat that tried to prevent the "Sea-Watch 3" from docking. Rackete has to answer criminally and was taken into house arrest .

On July 6, 2019, it became public that the sailing boat "Alex" of the Italian aid organization Mediterranea with 41 refugees on board also docked in Lampedusa despite the ban. The “Alex” , sailing under the Italian flag , took 54 migrants on board on July 4, 2019. Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini banned the boat from entering Italian waters by decree and asked him to head for the Maltese capital Valletta . 13 people could have left the "Alex" in Lampedusa before. Salvini has also announced a tougher approach. The fine for aid organizations that head for Italian ports despite a ban is to be increased to one million euros . In addition, it should become easier to seize ships.

A similar incident happened a little later. On July 26, 2019, it was reported that Salvini forbade the "Gregoretti", a coast guard ship with 140 migrants on board, to dock in Lampedusa. He announced that he would only grant permission "when the distribution of these migrants across Europe has been established in writing". The “Gregoretti” took over the migrants after they had been rescued from an Italian fishing boat.

After the rescue ship " Alan Kurdi " of the German aid organization Sea-Eye rescued 40 refugees from a rubber dinghy and tried to enter the port of Lampedusa in the early morning of July 31, 2019, Salvini also issued a ban on this. The "Alan Kurdi" then set course for Malta .

On the night of August 2, 2019, the " Open Arms ", a ship belonging to the Spanish aid organization Proactiva Open Arms , with 123 refugees on board, was also refused to dock in Lampedusa. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has now promised relief to Italy. Italy , Spain and Greece are facing particularly severe problems because of their geographical location . The “Open Arms” was allowed to dock in Lampedusa after almost three weeks of blockade. Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Portugal want to take in the refugees.

On September 2, 2019, the rescue ship “Mare Jonio” was allowed to dock in Lampedusa after a blockade lasting days. However, Italian authorities confiscated it upon arrival and issued the crew with a fine of 300,000 euros . The Italian aid organization Mediterranea Saving Humans showed no understanding of the procedure, as the ship with 31 migrants on board was given permission to dock in Lampedusa after the blockade.

traffic

Air traffic

Lampedusa airport

There is a daily flight connection from and to Palermo and Catania at Lampedusa Airport .

During the main travel season, the island airport, which is located in the east near the capital, is served several times a day and also from major Italian cities.

Ferries

Lampedusa port

There is a daily ferry to and from Porto Empedocle near Agrigento . Hydrofoils commute to the neighboring island of Linosa several times a day .

bus

The island bus along the coastal roads of Lampedusa runs every hour during the summer months.

Culture

An important building is a church on the south coast with a statue of the Madonna di Porto Salvo , the island's patron saint .

The traditional festival on Lampedusa is the Festa di San Bartolomeo on August 24th.

Giulio Tomasi received the title of Prince of Lampedusa from Charles II of Spain in 1667 . One of his descendants, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa , wrote the world-famous novel Il Gattopardo (German: The Leopard , also Der Gattopardo ).

The feature film Lampedusa , produced in 2002 and directed by Emanuele Crialese, portrays the everyday life and traditions of the islanders.

The 2011 feature film Terraferma , also directed by Emanuele Crialese, focuses on the migration of African refugees who are looking for their way to Europe via the island of Lampedusa, and portrays the resulting problems for the islanders.

In 2014, the Ivorian writer Josué Guébo received the Tchicaya-U-Tam'si Prize for his book Songe à Lampedusa (English: Think of Lampedusa) . The book deals with the wave of African refugees in the direction of Lampedusa in a lyrical long form. The jury described it as “a current work, a cry of desperation for the government, but also for the youth, so as not to despair”.

Also, the 2016 documentary published wildfire by Gianfranco Rosi portrays the daily life of the islanders and the daily incoming refugees.

people

  • Pietro Bartolo (born February 10, 1956), doctor and coordinator of medical aid measures for refugees
  • Giuseppina Maria Nicolini (born March 5, 1961), Mayor of the municipality of Lampedusa e Linosa

literature

See also

Web links

Commons : Lampedusa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Destination for refugees - Why Lampedusa? tagesschau.de, October 3, 2013, accessed May 6, 2017
  2. ^ Lampedusa: Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island - WORLD. In: welt.de. Retrieved August 28, 2017 .
  3. ^ Holidays like Robinson: The most beautiful islands in Europe - SPIEGEL ONLINE. In: spiegel.de. Retrieved August 28, 2017 .
  4. ^ Johann Jakob Egli : Nomina geographica. Language and factual explanation of 42,000 geographical names of all regions of the world. Friedrich Brandstetter, 2nd edition Leipzig 1893, p. 523
  5. ^ Ferdinando Maurici: Le isole minori della Sicilia in età bizantina. In: Anthony Bonanno, Pietro Militello (Eds.): Interconnections in the Central Mediterranean. The Maltese Islands and Sicily in History (= KASA (Koiné archeologica, sapiente antichitá). Vol. 7). Officina di Studi Medievali, Palermo 2008, ISBN 978-88-88615-80-6 , pp. 69-80, here: pp. 69f.
  6. ^ Ferdinando Maurici: Le isole minori della Sicilia in età bizantina. In: Anthony Bonanno, Pietro Militello (Eds.): Interconnections in the Central Mediterranean. The Maltese Islands and Sicily in History (= KASA (Koiné archeologica, sapiente antichitá). Vol. 7). Officina di Studi Medievali, Palermo 2008, ISBN 978-88-88615-80-6 , pp. 69–80, here: p. 78.
  7. ↑ Ivan Arnaldi: Nostra Signora di Lampedusa. Storia civile e materiale di un miracolo mediterraneo. Leonardo, Milan 1990, ISBN 88-355-0216-0 .
  8. ↑ Relman Morin (June 14, 1943): "Sergeant Cohen Reigns As" King of Lampedusa "". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. p. 1st English report of the emergency landing of the pilot Sidney Cohen from Malta , to whom the island was initially handed over to the landing of other British units.
  9. ↑ Kordula Doerfler: In fear of Gaddafi's revenge. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 22, 2011, accessed January 7, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Thomas Demmelhuber, Axel T. Paul & Maurus Reinkowski (eds.): Arabellion: From the beginning to the disintegration of a region? In Leviathan - Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft , special volume 31, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8452-7603-8 , pp. 123f.
  11. ↑ Hans-Jürgen Schlamp: Thousands of Africans are planning to flee via Tunisia. In: Spiegel Online , February 13, 2011.
  12. ↑ cf. Lampedusa: 700 people brought to a Sicilian refugee village derstandard.at, March 23, 2011, accessed on January 7, 2012.
  13. ^ Gudrun Sachse: Seven ways to Europe. In: NZZ Folio , Auf der Flucht , January 2015, accessed on 6 July 2019.
  14. ↑ tagesschau.de: Pope Francis visits Lampedusa (July 8, 2013) ( Memento of July 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 8, 2013
  15. ↑ Screams in front of Lampedusa became "weaker and weaker". welt.de , October 4, 2013, accessed on October 6, 2013 .
  16. ↑ a b The Mediterranean becomes a cemetery , the daily newspaper , October 12, 2013. Accessed on October 13, 2013.
  17. ↑ Jan-Christoph Kitzler, BR : More than 270 bodies recovered. tagesschau.de , October 8, 2013, archived from the original on January 8, 2014 ; Retrieved October 8, 2013 .
  18. ^ Tilmann Kleinjung, BR : Criminal offense: illegal immigration. tagesschau.de , October 7, 2013, archived from the original on September 1, 2014 ; Retrieved October 8, 2013 .
  19. ↑ Ban: International community must prevent refugee tragedies like the one in Lampedusa , Deutschlandradio , October 13, 2013.
  20. ↑ Ban Ki-moon : After latest Lampedusa tragedy, Ban calls for action to protect human rights of migrants , United Nations News Center, October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  21. ↑ sueddeutsche.de August 16, 2017: Why fewer refugees arrive in Italy than expected
  22. ↑ "Alex": Salvini wants to raise fines for refugee ships to 1 million euros. Die Welt, July 6, 2019, accessed on August 3, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Refugees off Italy: Salvini rejects his own coast guard. tagesschau.de, July 26, 2019, accessed on July 27, 2019 .
  24. ↑ "Alan Kurdi" is looking for a haven for migrants - Salvini declares war. Die Welt, August 1, 2019, accessed on August 1, 2019 .
  25. ^ After a strict no from Italy: "Alan Kurdi" sets course for Malta. Die Welt, August 2, 2019, accessed on August 3, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Safe haven wanted for more than 160 migrants: The rescue ship "Open Arms" has taken in 123 migrants. Just like the "Alan Kurdi", a port is now needed to let people off board. Zeit Online, August 2, 2019, accessed August 3, 2019 .
  27. ↑ "Open Arms" lands in Lampedusa - Germany takes in migrants. Die Welt, August 22, 2019, accessed on August 23, 2019 .
  28. ↑ Despite entry permit: the rescue ship “Mare Jonio” confiscated on Lampedusa. faz.net (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), September 3, 2019, accessed on September 6, 2019 .
  29. ↑ 75. Think of Lampedusa. Lyrikzeitung.com, August 22, 2014, accessed August 23, 2014 .