EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-MESSINA ARRIVALS Hundreds of migrants arrive at Sicilian port

Record ID: 141092

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-MESSINA ARRIVALS Hundreds of migrants arrive at Sicilian port
  • Date: 15th September 2015
  • Summary: MESSINA, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 15, 2015) (REUTERS) ITALIAN AND CROATIAN VESSEL AT PORT REFUGEE FAMILIES SITTING ON DECK MEN SEATED ON DECK CROATIAN VESSEL ANDRIJA MOHOROVICIC WITH REFUGEES ON BOARD CROATIAN NAVAL OFFICERS WATCHING MEN ON DECK MINORS ON DECK VARIOUS OF FAMILIES DISEMBARKING MOTHER FEEDING YOUNG CHILD FAMILY BEING LED BY RED CROSS WORKER FAMILIES HANDED FOOD AND WATER LITTLE GIRL DISEMBARKING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SPOKESWOMAN FOR SAVE THE CHILDREN, GIOVANNA DI BENEDETTO, SAYING: "There are lots of children, about 40 accompanied, most of them are Syrian and there are about 25 unaccompanied who appear to be from Egypt. There was also a happy event as a few days after leaving Egypt a baby boy was born and now he is about nine days old. A doctor was on board the ship and looked after the mother and both the baby and his mother are doing well." MINORS DISEMBARKING WOMEN WITH CHILDREN DISEMBARKING BAREFEET MEN REFUGEES BEING PROCESSED ITALIAN AND CROATIAN VESSEL AT PORT
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACRZNA0VNUPNQ6DI1TBF77WRCI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Some 284 migrants and refugees were brought to shore at the Italian port of Messina on Tuesday (September 15) after being rescued at sea by Italian and Croatian vessels.
    The migrants said they had left from Egypt and had been at sea for 12 days changing boats several times. Many of those rescued were minors, some unaccompanied, with origins appearing to be from Egypt, Syria, Somalia and Eritrea.
    "There are lots of children, about 40 accompanied, most of them are Syrian and there are about 25 unaccompanied who appear to be from Egypt," explained spokeswoman for Save for the Children, Giovanna di Benedetto.
    "There was also a happy event as a few days after leaving Egypt a baby boy was born and now he is about nine days old. A doctor was on board the ship and looked after the mother and both the baby and his mother are doing well," she said.
    An Italian finance police ship and Croatian naval vessel Andrija Mohorovicic picked the people up at sea from an overcrowded fishing vessel.
    Rescue operations are continuing in the Mediterranean on an almost daily basis with thousands of migrants still expected to make the crossing in the coming months.
    An estimated 464,876 migrants have now crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, up from 432,000 as of Friday (September 11), which already doubled the total for all of 2014, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
    About 3,840 migrants have drowned this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean, it said.
    A majority of EU interior ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday (September 14), agreed in principle to share out 120,000 asylum seekers on top of about 40,000 distributed on a voluntary basis so far. But details of the deal, to be formalised on October 8, were vague with several ex-Communist central European states still rejecting mandatory quotas.
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