Europe migrant crisis: Italy attempts to save 1,200 people on overcrowded boats off coast of Sicily
Two large-scale operations are being conducted by the Italian coastguard to rescue approximately 1,200 migrants from overcrowded boats off the coast of Sicily. One boat is carrying around 800 people, while the other has around 400 passengers.
Since Friday, the coastguard has already saved about 2,000 individuals from other operations.
Despite the right-wing coalition government’s efforts to curb irregular migration, migrant arrivals to Italy have increased steeply compared to the same period last year.
An unofficial hotline for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone, reported that the boat carrying 400 people, believed to have departed from Tobruk in Libya, was still without assistance late on Monday evening. Alarm Phone said it had raised an urgent alarm with the authorities of Italy, Greece, and Malta on Sunday.
German non-governmental organisation Sea-Watch International said two merchant vessels had been ordered not to help with rescue efforts by Malta, while the boat was in Maltese waters.
The Italian coast guard is also undertaking an operation to rescue the 800 people on the other boat, but overcrowding on board has made the task difficult. Other boats arrived at the Italian island of Lampedusa, one of the main arrival ports for people wanting to reach Europe, over the weekend.
Sadly, at least two migrants died and around 20 others were missing after their boat sank on Saturday night. The IOM Missing Migrants Project monitoring group reported that more than 26,000 people have died or gone missing at sea in the central Mediterranean since 2014.
