The Italian coast guard rescued about 600 migrants aboard a fishing boat in danger off the coast of Sicily, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Easter Sunday.
According to the agency, the operation was carried out southeast of the island in difficult weather conditions.
More than a hundred rescued have already been brought to shore by the ship FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. Now they are in the Sicilian city of Catania, according to ANSA.
Two hundred more are expected there later Monday morning. While three hundred are delivered by a Navy ship to Augusta, near Syracuse.
German NGO Sea-Watch said it spotted several migrant boats in the Mediterranean over the weekend. He added that one of them was carrying 221 people who were also rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. Official confirmation of a specific rescue operation has not yet been received.
The Italian Ministry of the Interior counts more than 32,700 migrants who arrived by sea this year, compared to about 7,900 in the corresponding period in 2022.
Last week, the far-right coalition government declared a state of emergency due to increased migration flows in the central Mediterranean.
Source: RES-IPE
Source: Kathimerini
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