The Italian coastguard is carrying out two large-scale operations to rescue around 1,200 migrants from overloaded boats off Sicily. About 800 people are on one, and about 400 on the other. They are in addition to some 2,000 people rescued since Friday as part of other operations by the Italian navy.
The smallest of the fishing boats would have left from Tobruk in Libya. The alert had been launched on Sunday with the Italian, Greek and Maltese authorities, by an unofficial emergency number for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone. A woman on board said the boat, without a captain, was taking on water and drifting, while a child, a pregnant woman and an invalid needed medical attention. Three panicked people reportedly jumped overboard, one losing consciousness. The boat was joined this Tuesday morning by the coast guard vessel “Diciotti” southeast of Cape Passero, at the southern tip of Sicily. Two commercial vessels were involved in the rescue during this operation, according to the coast guard.
The German NGO Sea-Watch International claimed that these two merchant ships had been ordered not to participate in Malta’s rescue efforts while the boat was in Maltese waters. One of the vessels was, however, allowed to supply the boat with fuel and water. Alarm Phone claims on its Twitter feed that it sent 21 urgent emails to the Maltese government, which did not respond to media requests for comment.
Other boats have arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa
The other fishing boat, which is carrying about 800 people, was located in Italian waters more than 190 km southeast of Syracuse in Sicily. Three coastguard patrol boats and a merchant ship, under the coordination of the coastguard ship “Nave Peluso”, are engaged in the rescue operations, made complex by the overcrowding on board and the weather conditions, indicated the Italian Coast Guard.
Other boats arrived this weekend on the Italian island of Lampedusa, one of the main ports of arrival for people wishing to reach Europe. Migrant arrivals in Italy have more than doubled since the start of the year compared to the same period last year, despite efforts by the right-wing and far-right coalition government to tackle illegal immigration : according to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 14,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the beginning of the year, compared to just over 5,300 during the same period last year and 4,300 in 2021.
At least two migrants are dead and about twenty others are missing after the sinking of their boat on the night of Saturday to Sunday between Tunisia and Italy, according to ResQship. The German association claims to have been able to rescue 22 people and transport them to Lampedusa, with the cooperation of the Italian coast guard.
According to the International Office for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, more than 26,000 people have died or gone missing at sea in the central Mediterranean since 2014.