EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-AUGUSTA About 1700 migrants rescued off Libyan coasts in two days

Record ID: 144257

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY-AUGUSTA About 1700 migrants rescued off Libyan coasts in two days
  • Date: 11th August 2015
  • Summary: AUGUSTA, SICILY, ITALY (AUGUST 11, 2015) (REUTERS) IRISH NAVY SHIP LE NIAMH APPROACHING HARBOUR AMBULANCES ON DOCK IRISH NAVY SHIP LE NIAMH DOCKING VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS ON BOARD SAILOR IN PROTECTIVE CLOTHING AND GOGGLES STANDING NEXT TO MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS ON BOARD SHIP MIGRANT WOMAN AND CHILD GETTING OFF SHIP MIGRANTS WEARING PLASTIC SHOES PROVIDED BY RESCUERS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS GETTING OFF SHIP MIGRANTS ON DOCK VARIOUS OF YOUNG MIGRANTS WALKING ON DOCK WITH BOTTLE WATER MOTHERS AND CHILDREN VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEATED ON DOCK AT DUSK
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEXYFQY2B27DIMHNKY4V2E41JJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Around 500 migrants were taken to safety to the Sicilian port of Augusta on Tuesday (August 11) by Irish Navy ship Le Niamh.
    The migrants, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa, were part of 1700 people rescued in the Mediterranean since Monday (August 10) in various operations.
    1552 migrants were rescued on Monday alone, while the Italian Navy rescued about 200 migrants on Tuesday.
    The state of the sea worsened in the Sicily Channel on Tuesday afternoon, with bulletins reporting waves up to six metres high and gale warnings caused by strong North-Easterly winds.
    More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year trying to reach Europe by boat, compared with 3,279 during the whole of last year, the International Organization for Migration said.
    Traffickers have sent more than 90,000 migrants by sea to Italy so far this year, the UN refugee agency says. Italy took in 170,000 in 2014.
    This summer's mass arrivals in both Italy and Greece show the crisis is worsening. Immigrants fleeing violence and poverty at home continue to pour in from Africa and the Middle East.
    Many look to move swiftly to wealthier northern Europe, including to Britain from Calais in France.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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