Italy Says 2,500 Boat Migrants Rescued at Sea in Three Days

Almost 2,500 boat migrants were rescued in the past three days, the Italian Coast Guard said on Thursday, as this year's arrivals already far outpace the record-setting 2016.

News ID: 72585

Date: 25 February 2017 - 12:10

According to MANA, Some 1,100 were plucked from nine flimsy vessels off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the Coast Guard said, after a total of 1,360 were picked up the two preceding days.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 10,700 sea arrivals, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday, a third higher than the same period last year.

Last year a record 181,000 boat migrants reached Italy and more than 5,000 died in the Mediterranean. Since 2015, more than a million-and-a-half migrants have flooded into Europe.

To stop the flow, Italy and the European Union earlier this month pledged to fund migrant camps in Libya run by the U.N.-backed government, and to supply equipment and training for the fight against people smugglers.