The weeks follow one another and look alike in the Mediterranean. Three coastguard boats are in the process of intervening about 130 km south of Crotone (Calabria, south) “to rescue a large boat with some 500 migrants on board”, announced the coastguard in a press release. .
Three other coastguard boats, including an ocean-going vessel, the Dattilo, are rescuing two other boats carrying around 800 people. These two boats are about 180 km southeast of Calabria, the tip of the Italian boot, according to the same source.
Three overloaded boats
“The rescue (…) is particularly complicated due to the high number of people on board the drifting boats”, according to the coast guard, which released photos showing three overloaded boats.
Rescue operations will continue in the next few hours, with the additional support of an aircraft and another ocean-going vessel. Faced with this situation, the coastguards have requested the help of the navy, and the Ministry of Defense indicated in a press release having given the order for “an immediate intervention” of the military ship Sirio, which “goes to the spot as quickly as possible to provide assistance”.
Twice as many arrivals as in 2022
A deadly shipwreck occurred nearly two weeks ago off the town of Crotone, killing at least 73 people. Justice has opened an investigation into the tragedy, in particular to try to explain the too late arrival of relief. This event shocked Italy, and the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni, elected on an anti-migrant line, symbolically organized a Council of Ministers on Thursday near the site of the sinking.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 17,592 people have landed since January 1 in Italy, compared to 5,976 over the same period in 2022 and 5,995 in 2021, i.e. almost triple. The number of migrant arrivals via the central Mediterranean route jumped 116% in January and February compared to 2022, according to the European border guard agency Frontex.