Five bodies found in nearly 700 migrant-fishing boats rescued from Mediterranean Sea
Refugees on the rescue ship “Sea-Watch”
Source: DPA-Infocom GmbH
In a matter of hours, more than 1,000 illegal migrants entered Italy. The Coast Guard rescued 600 people from a fishing boat in Calabria. Other ships came from Tunisia and Libya. The reception facilities are dramatically overcrowded.
DThe Italian Coast Guard has rescued nearly 700 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea. The Coast Guard said on Sunday that five bodies were also found on a fishing boat on Saturday. After the boat had sailed more than 200 kilometers off the Calabrian coast, a merchant ship and several ships belonging to Italian authorities rescued a total of 674 people, some of whom were directly from the water. They came to the Sicilian and Calabrian ports.
Late Saturday, 522 people aboard 15 boats from Tunisia and Libya also reached the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. According to aid organisations, hundreds of others rescued from distress at sea are waiting to go ashore. Berlin-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Sea-Watch rescued more than 400 people, including a heavily pregnant woman and several children, in four missions on Saturday, according to its own statements.
According to the Interior Ministry in Rome, 34,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Italy since the beginning of the year. There were 25,500 people in the last year, 10,900 in 2020. According to Italian media, the initial reception center on Lampedusa, designed for a maximum of 300 people, is dramatically overcrowded. According to Ansa News Agency, there are 1,200 people in it.
The Mediterranean Sea is the most dangerous refugee route in the world according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to IOM estimates, 990 people have died or disappeared at the crossing since the beginning of the year.
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