What’s happening on Lampedusa — and what Europe needs to do now to manage migration

Legal migratory routes will help governments to predict flows, and make pragmatic decisions about quotas

Police officers walk by migrants on the Lampedusa Island, Italy. Lampedusa has been overwhelmed by thousands of people hoping to reach Europe. Picture: Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP

In barely two days, between September 12 and 14, more than 7,000 people arrived in around 120 small boats on the Italian island of Lampedusa, taking the number of arrivals up to 10,000 people by the middle of the month. 

This was a record-breaking figure for an island of around 6,000 inhabitants. Migrants are kept separate from the local population and identified before being transferred to Sicily or other centres in Italy.