Italian coastguard comes to the aid of more than 1000 migrants US: Russia wants to destabilize Moldova +++ Wagner boss complains about lack of ammunition

Italian authorities are reporting increasing numbers of migrant and refugee crossings in the Central Mediterranean. The Coast Guard deployed several vessels on Friday to assist three boats carrying more than 1,000 migrants off the southern Italian coast. As stated in a statement, an aircraft is also used, which is “extremely complex” due to the large number of people. A military ship also took part in the rescue operations.

The weather forecast announced strong winds and increasingly rough seas for the weekend. Emergency calls were initially made on Friday morning from a boat with 500 people on board.

The Coast Guard was recently criticized for initially not helping a boat carrying more than 150 migrants at the end of February. The wooden boat capsized off the coast of Calabria, killing at least 72 people. The authorities and government in Rome explained that they did not initially assume an emergency on the night of the accident.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reminded Thursday after a meeting of her cabinet in the town of Cutro, in front of the beach where the ship sank, that the coastguard comes to the rescue of boats every day. She rejected allegations that those migrants were deliberately not helped.

The Italian Ministry of the Interior has counted several thousand boat migrants in recent days who have arrived on the coasts of the Mediterranean country or on the island of Lampedusa. On Thursday evening, more than 15,800 migrants were registered – in 2021 and 2022 there were almost 6,000 in the same period. (sda/dpa)