Lampedusa: the army mission on the island is over

30/07/14

A ceremony will be held in Lampedusa to greet the military soldiers who will leave the island for a remodulation of the device provided for by the decree of the Ministry of the Interior.

The ceremony will be attended by the mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa Giusi Nicolini and the commander of the group "Safe Roads" Western Sicily, Colonel Marco Buscemi.

The "Safe Roads" operation that will guarantee the supervision of the First Aid and First Aid Center will continue on the island under the command of the Western Sicily group (Lancieri d'Aosta regiment based in Palermo) and will be conducted by a platoon of 20 men AOS.

The Italian army leaves the island after 28 years of almost uninterrupted presence. The first men, a company of paratroopers of the Folgore brigade, were sent to Lampedusa on 16 Aprile 1986, following a serious diplomatic crisis with Libya.

Since then, a component of the armed force has always been present on the island, which was based in a small army base in Contrada Imbriacola, which then passed to the 2006 domain and subsequently became the site of the First Aid and Reception Center for migrants.

Among the most significant moments of the presence of the military soldiers it is necessary to remember the intervention on the occasion of the sinking of the 3 October 2013, when a Libyan boat left from Misurata sank off the island, causing 366 dead and 20 allegedly missing.

The army immediately intervened by arranging a system of observation and control along the coasts of the island to spot the castaways, contributing to the rescue of migrants and taking care of the recovery and transport of the bodies of the victims.

Given the serious humanitarian emergency, a few days after the shipwreck, the army also employed some soldiers of African origin on the island, to facilitate relations between institutions and migrants and interpret their needs using their mother tongue.

Since then the soldiers with cultural mediation tasks, have continuously alternated on the island representing an important aid for authorities and guests of the reception center.

Source: Army Majority Staff