EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CATANIA ARRIVALS Over 1,000 migrants, picked up by British navy, handed over to Italy

Record ID: 150456

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CATANIA ARRIVALS Over 1,000 migrants, picked up by British navy, handed over to Italy
  • Date: 8th June 2015
  • Summary: CATANIA, ITALY (JUNE 8, 2015) (REUTERS) BRITISH ASSAULT SHIP HMS BULWARK ARRIVING AT CATANIA PORT VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS IN PORT WAITING FOR SHIP'S ARRIVAL VARIOUS OF SHIP DOCKING BRITISH ROYAL NAVY FORCE ONBOARD ROYAL NAVY FLAG FLYING PAN FROM PORT TO HMS BULWARK SIGN READING (English): "BULWARK" SIGN ON SIDE OF SHIP VARIOUS OF ROYAL NAVY ONBOARD SHIP TROOPS HOLDING WEAPONS
  • Embargoed: 23rd June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB2MFRFS2WWCYRD6DNCNCMADXD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An estimated 1143 migrants disembarked from the British Royal Navy assault ship HMS Bulwark at the Sicilian port of Catania on Monday (June 8, 2015) after being picked up at sea.
    The 19,000-tonne Bulwark, along with its three Royal Navy Merlin helicopters, used to spot migrant vessels in distress, has so far rescued 2,700 people from the sea since joining the Triton mission on May 5.
    The migrants rescued included over 50 minors and a dozen pregnant women.
    The Triton mission is the European Union's search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean.
    The 1,143 people onboard the Bulwark are among 5,900 migrants that have been plucked from rickety boats at the weekend as they made the perilous sea crossing for North Africa to Europe.
    The tide of migrants and refugees risking the often deadly sea crossing to reach Europe from Africa is on the rise this year and the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR estimates more than 1,800 have drowned. About 800 perished in a single shipwreck in April.
    In response, the EU has bolstered its presence in the Mediterranean, but it is still debating how to handle the refugees and migrants once they are ashore.
    EU interior ministers are due to discuss a European Commission plan on June 16 to disperse 40,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece to other member states, and to bolster the enforcement of the treaty.
    The turmoil in Libya, which has become one of the main transit routes to Europe, is giving free rein to people smugglers.
    During the first five months of the year, there were 46,500 sea arrivals into Italy, a 12 percent increase on the same period of last year, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
    Italy's government projects that 200,000 in all will come this year, up from 170,000 in 2014.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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