Thousands Saved Off Coast of Libya
Migrants and refugees are rescued from a wooden boat off Libya on Monday. Photo: AP
The Italian navy and a number of search and rescue boats have saved nearly 7,000 migrants and refugees off the Libyan coast since Monday, in one of the largest ever rescue operations in the Mediterranean, writes Giovanni Legorano in The Wall Street Journal. Flavio di Giacomo, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration in Italy, said the number of those rescued was set to grow as rescue operations were still ongoing.
Until Monday, the migrants and refugees who reached Italy—most of whom had been rescued south of the island of Sicily—in August numbered around 12,000, or slightly more than half the arrivals in the same month last year. Since the beginning of the year, 113,000 migrants reached Italy, only slightly less than in the same period of last year. However, the closure of European borders means migrants are bottled up in Italy, which is scrambling to find places to host them. Italian reception centers now shelter 145,000 migrants and refugees, an increase of more than 50% since the beginning of the year.
KJ