In one of the biggest operations of its kind to date, about 6,500 migrants have been rescued off Libya, the Italian coastguard says. About 40 co-ordinated rescue missions have took place at about 20km (12 miles) off the Libyan town of Sabratha, it added.
Operations involved vessels from Italy as well as the EU’s border agency Frontex and the NGOs Proactiva Open Arms and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The migrants had set off in the overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels without enough fuel to reach waiting rescuers.
About 106,000 people have arrived in the Italy so far this year, while 2,726 have died in the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The IOM says that there are a further 275,000 migrants in the Libya waiting to travel. Overall, about 284,000 migrants have entered the Europe so far this year through various transit routes across the Africa, Asia or the Middle East.
Last year there were more than one million migrants fleeing the civil war in Syria has arrived in Europe, sparking a crisis as the countries struggled to cope up with the influx and creating division in the European Union, how best to deal with resettling people.
By Premji
