A surge of migrants is reaching Italy

Defying adverse late-winter weather, migrants fleeing poverty and persecution are reaching Italy’s shores in unprecedented numbers. By March 27th 26,927 had arrived so far this year. This compares with 6,543 at the same point last year, when the annual total was over 105,000. In 2017, the peak year so far, the corresponding numbers were 24,280 and more than 180,000. That suggests that depending on which pattern this year follows, Italy could face an influx of 200,000 seaborne migrants, possibly even 400,000 or more.That is a nightmare for a coalition that came to power last September promising to clamp down on irregular immigration. Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, is not the only European leader affected. Many or most of the migrants who land in Italy move on to countries farther north where their compatriots are already settled, where jobs are more plentiful and public benefits are more generous.