A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team is offering medical assistance to 301 migrants and refugees who arrived this morning at the first reception center in Pozzallo, Sicily. They are the latest group of arrivals. More than 6,000 people were rescued in the past week while making the dangerous crossing to Italy in search of protection and assistance in Europe.
Among the people landed in Pozzallo today, there were 45 women and 23 children. Many families include young children. They are mainly from Eritrea and Somalia. Three pregnant women were referred to the local hospitals.
"We are exhausted," said Chiara Montaldo, project coordinator of MSF in Sicily. "We're still assisting people who arrived in Pozzallo three days ago. There were 373 people, and many of them are still here in the center. And today we have these new arrivals.
"It is a dramatic situation and this will be repeated over and over throughout the summer and beyond, until they have a safe way to reach Europe for protection and assistance."
In collaboration with Ministry of Health, MSF is providing medical services to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at the first reception center in Pozzallo upon their arrival and during their stay in the center.
