Italy: Hundreds of migrants rescued from Strait of Sicily
last update: October 31, 13:02
Lampedusa and Catania, 31 Oct. (AKI) - Italian coastguard intercepted 360 migrants in three overnight rescue operations in the Strait of Sicily.
A total of 161 mainly Eritrean migrants including women and children were rescued from a motorised rubber dingy and transferred to the tiny island of Lampedusa's detention centre.
A military vessel docked in the eastern port city of Catania early on Monday with 199 migrants on board who were picked up in two separate operations.
Despite the drownings in October of over 400 mainly Africans in two shipwrecks in the southern Mediterranean, the influx of boat migrants has continued almost daily in recent months.
Coastguard overnight on Tuesday rescued 337 migrants aboard several boats in the southern Mediterranean who were transferred to the Sicilian ports of Porto Empedocle and Trapani on Wednesday.
A total of 36,278 boat migrants reached Italy this year, as of 24 October, according to the Italian interior ministry.
Italy has boosted its search and rescue operations in the Mediterrnean since this month's tragedies.
European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels last week pledged "determined action" to prevent further migrant deaths at sea including boosting border patrols.
http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Security/Italy-Hundreds-of-migrants-rescued-from-Strait-of-Sicily_32805365510.html
Received on Thu Oct 31 2013 - 14:43:12 EDT