Italian Coast Guard rescues about 750 Mediterranean migrants

The Italian coastguard has rescued some 750 migrants from two overcrowded fishing boats in the Mediterranean Sea. On Thursday morning, a boat with 295 people on board was intercepted in international waters off the coast of the southern Italian region of Calabria, the coastguard said. The migrants were taken to patrol boats and taken to safety. In the afternoon, the Coast Guard rescued about 450 migrants from another boat in distress about 100 nautical miles east of the Sicilian city of Syracuse.

In Italy, there has been discussion for weeks about the arrival of thousands of migrants, who travel from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy in mostly unseaworthy boats. According to official figures, the country has already registered more than 20,000 boat migrants since the beginning of January – up from around 6,000 in the previous two years.

Time and again, devastating boating accidents occur while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. At the end of February, a shipwreck occurred off the coast of Calabria, killing at least 89 people. The right-wing Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Coast Guard have since been subject to massive criticism – the accusation is that everything possible has not been done to save them. However, a few days ago she replied to her critics in parliament: “My conscience is absolutely clear!” (sda/dpa)