EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY UPDATE More than 600 migrants arrive in Sicily; 4,400 are rescued in two days

Record ID: 148980

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/ITALY UPDATE More than 600 migrants arrive in Sicily; 4,400 are rescued in two days
  • Date: 29th June 2015
  • Summary: AUGUSTA, SICILY, ITALY (JUNE 29, 2015) (REUTERS) ITALIAN NAVY VESSEL CARRYING MIGRANTS DOCKING IN PORT RESCUERS IN WHITE PROTECTIVE SUITS STANDING BY MIGRANTS ON DECK AS VESSEL DOCKS IN PORT MIGRANTS SEATED ON DECK LOOKING ON VESSEL DOCKING IN PORT MIGRANT LOOKING ON FROM DECK POLICE OFFICERS IN PORT WEARING PROTECTIVE MASKS MIGRANTS SEATED ON DECK BY RESCUERS IN PROTECTIV
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZ4O50WO25QEJ9NWZC9OMBMYR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Nearly 650 migrants rescued at sea arrived at the Sicilian port of Augusta on Monday (June 29) afternoon, aboard Italian coastguard vessels and Italian Navy ships.
    The 647 migrants, part of some 4,400 people rescued from boats in the Mediterranean on Sunday (June 28) and Monday, were provided with water and snacks as they waited to go through standard health and identification checks in port.
    At one point, the police could be seen escorting a man away for questioning over trafficking suspicions.
    Meanwhile the Italian coast guard released video of the rescue of 323 migrants at sea. The footage showed the migrants being rescued from a rubber dinghy on Sunday and taken to port in Sicily's Pozzallo on Monday morning.
    The arrivals came as Italy's navy said it had begun to recover the bodies of up to 800 migrants from a fishing boat that sank in the Mediterranean three months ago, a tragedy that prompted the European Union to expand sea rescue operations.
    The 20-metre fishing boat capsized and sank in April as it approached a merchant ship that had come to its aid. The shipwreck, the most deadly in the Mediterranean in decades, became a symbol of Europe's long-running migration crisis.
    Three navy ships and remote-controlled submersibles have been used to take bodies from the sea bed near the shipwreck, which is about 135 km (85 miles) north of Libya at a depth of about 370 metres (1,214 ft), the navy said in a statement.
    No further details about the operation were provided.
    Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has said he wants the vessel lifted so "the whole world (can) see what happened".
    Italy has accused EU governments of not pitching in enough to help manage the migrant flow, mainly from conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.
    Efforts to establish mandatory quotas for a small portion of asylum seekers throughout the European Union were rejected last week in favour of a voluntary system.
    About 60,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat from North Africa this year, after 170,000 last year, and almost 2,000 have died, according to official estimates.
    The 4,400 migrants arriving between Sunday and Monday were rescued from 29 boats. British, Irish, Italian, Swedish and Spanish ships took part in the rescues, a coastguard spokesman said.
    The Phoenix, a privately funded ship based in Malta, and vessels taking part in the EU-funded Triton border control operation, which was tripled in size after April's shipwreck, have also helped with rescues, the spokesman said.
    The turmoil in Libya, which has become one of the main transit routes to Europe, is giving free rein to people smugglers.
    EU ministers last week approved a naval operation to try to fight smuggling and halt the stream of migrants, though it will be limited for the moment to intelligence gathering because it has no authorisation from the United Nations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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