Locals on the Italian island of Lampedusa have participated in a referendum calling for an end to new illegal migrant landings.
The referendum was called two weeks ago and saw the majority of participants, some 988 people, vote to close the migrant “hotspot” centre, with only four people voting to keep the centre’s doors open.
A committee of local citizens released a statement saying: “For 30 years, in the face of the continuous violation of the most essential rights for the population and for immigrants, Lampedusa has been used as a military management platform for migration.”
“All this with the complicity of local administrations and through a moral and economic blackmailing strategy, to the detriment of the local population,” the locals added, according to an Il Giornale report.
The results of the referendum come as another 43 migrants were transported to the island by the migrant transport NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans over the weekend.