EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-POZZALLO ARRIVALS Around 200 rescued migrants arrive in Sicily's Pozzallo

Record ID: 144213

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-POZZALLO ARRIVALS Around 200 rescued migrants arrive in Sicily's Pozzallo
  • Date: 12th August 2015
  • Summary: POZZALLO, SICILY, ITALY (AUGUST 12, 2015) (REUTERS) MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES (MSF) AND MIGRANT OFFSHORE AID STATION (MOAS) VESSEL "PHOENIX" CARRYING MIGRANTS APPROACHING PORT MIGRANTS ON DECK AS SHIP DOCKS IN PORT SHIP DOCKING IN PORT WITH MIGRANTS ON DECK MIGRANTS ON DECK UNDER SUN COVERS GANGWAY BEING PULLED OUT FROM SHIP MALE MIGRANTS STANDING ON DECK LOOKING ON MIGRANT
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1OWZPKWVR8QDI3C2QLIDTPOGU
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Some 202 migrants rescued at sea by the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) vessel Phoenix arrived in the port of Pozzallo in Sicily on Wednesday (August 12) morning.
    The arrival came as Italian rescuers said up to 50 migrants were feared missing after a large rubber dinghy sank in the Mediterranean Sea. More than 1,500 people were picked up from other vessels in the past 24 hours.
    The migrants onboard the the Phoenix included 36 women and seven children. They were said to be of sub-Saharan and Palestinian origin.
    Disembarking the ship, the migrants were photographed and their belongings checked before they boarded coaches that would take them to shelters in Sicily and mainland Italy.
    Some of the migrants could be seen requiring medical assistance.
    The Mediterranean has become the world's most deadly border zone for migrants. More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, compared with 3,279 deaths during the whole of last year, the International Organization for Migration said last week.
    Will Turner, the emergency coordinator for MSF onboard the Phoenix said the migrants were crossing from Libya when they were rescued.
    "We have just finished an operation, we have been at sea for nearly seven days now conducting several rescues, essentially we've been responding to vessels in difficulty, this is a situation that we, as MSF, feel compelled to assist in, while people are being exposed to very dangerous situations in search of a safe haven and putting their lives at risk whilst trying to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to the safety of Europe," he said.
    People-smugglers, mostly based in lawless Libya and charging thousands of dollars for passage, have sent more than 100,000 migrants by sea to Italy so far this year, according to an Interior Ministry tally. Italy took in 170,000 in 2014.
    One suspected migrant trafficker was arrested by police after arriving in Pozzallo.
    Around 200 migrants were presumed dead earlier this month off the coast of Libya when their boat capsized. More than 400 were rescued from that shipwreck.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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