Matteo Salvini

The closure was ordered by the far-right Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has maintained a harsh stance against the reception of migrants from the war-torn North African countries.

The number of migrants attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing has increased after the recent escalation of civil war in Libya.

The people on the boat had set off from Zuwara in Libya towards Europe in an inflatable boat, which sank nine miles away from the Tunisian port town of Zarzis.

Carola Rackete is the captain of the Sea Watch 3 which rescued 53 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea around 30 NM off the Libyan coast. The boat was denied permission to dock in Lampedusa for 14 days following which it approached the port without permission

Members of the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) also helped relocating almost 140 inhabitants of the center, who faced the risk of being sent to Sicily. The order to close the center came from minister of internal affairs, Matteo Salvini

No matter how successful the right may be in the short-run in mobilizing people around a divisive agenda, it is incapable of leading them out of the current economic crisis. It is only the left that can provide a way out.