More than a thousand migrants were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and Navy on Saturday from overloaded boats in the central Mediterranean, less than two weeks after a deadly shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy, media reported.
These rescue operations were carried out the same day the body of the 74th victim - a five- to six-year-old girl - was discovered in the deadly shipwreck nearly two weeks ago off Crotone on the country's southern coast, according to the AGI news agency.
Justice has opened an investigation into the tragedy, in particular to try to explain the too late arrival of relief.
This shipwreck shocked Italy and sparked strong criticism of the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni elected on an anti-migrant line.
The coast guard and the Italian navy had dispatched several ships on Friday to come to the aid of three boats carrying several hundred migrants and spotted in the central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world.
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"
Rescue (...) is particularly complicated due to the high number of people on board the drifting boats
," the coast guard explained on Friday.
Early Saturday morning, 487 migrants were brought back safe and sound to the port of Crotone, according to several media.
Coastguard videos, released on Friday, showed some of them on the deck of a large fishing boat bobbing in rough seas.
Also on Saturday morning, an Italian coast guard vessel carrying 584 migrants, docked in Reggio Calabria, a coastal town in Italy's boot, Ansa news agency reported.
No information regarding the rescue of the third boat was available Saturday noon.
At the end of a council of ministers relocated Thursday in southern Italy, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her government's determination to fight against illegal immigration and smugglers.
A first outside Rome for the far-right majority executive which, since taking office in October 2022, has multiplied the obstacles to the operations of humanitarian ships in the Mediterranean and started a showdown with its European partners to obtain support. them more solidarity in welcoming migrants.
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The Council of Ministers approved a new decree increasing the penalties for smugglers and creating a new crime punishable by thirty years in prison for those traffickers whose operations have resulted in the death or injury of their victims.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 17,592 people have landed since January 1 in Italy, compared to 5,976 over the same period in 2022 and 5,995 in 2021, almost triple.
The number of migrant arrivals via the central Mediterranean route jumped 116% in January and February compared to 2022, according to Frontex.