God, that is awful desperation. But, they need to be returned from whence they came right now, perhaps with a few weeks provisions.
Certainly would be a positive move, no matter what shouting and screaming would occur. Italy had a good idea at first. They established a holding camp on Lampedusa Island. Bed and board, but confined within fences. It was not to the liking of the boat people. They did riot and break out, going into the Italian residences kitchens for food.
The camp could hold about 1,200 and became hard to manage. The unfortunate authorities were then forced to relocate new boat people to the mainland. They wanted to go to the most lucrative welfare systems in other European countries.
What a terrible mess and not the fault of Italy or any other Western nation.