All by design.
They need to be quickly processed back onto shores of ”the old country”.
Italian navy rescues over 1,000 migrants
Photo: AFP/Marina Militare
Published: 07 Jun 2014 12:13 GMT+02:00
- Seven arrested in Italy after migrant boat surge (03 Jun 14)
- Italy threatens to send migrants across Europe (14 May 14)
- ‘The EU can’t let mothers and children die’: Renzi (13 May 14)
- Toll in migrant shipwreck rises to 17: Italian navy (13 May 14)
The migrants and asylum seekers were plucked from three boats some 40 miles (74 kilometres) off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, the coast guard said.
The rescue came a day after the Italian navy picked up another 2,500 asylum-seekers from 17 boats, as good weather conditions in the Mediterranean further boost the influx of migrants desperate to reach Europe.
Most of the migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Italy come from Eritrea or Syria and are departing from Libya. Many also come from impoverished parts of sub-Saharan Africa.