Rome: SOS Mediterranee, a private aid organisation, said that it has rescued a group of migrants from a vessel in distress. Almost 60 people were rescued from an overcrowded boat.
The crew of the Ocean Viking rescue ship found the wooden boat in the Maltese search zone. It was their fifth mission within 36 hours. The ship currently has about 270 migrants on board. The organisation told the DPA news agency that a baby aged only a few weeks was among the migrants.
Most of these migrants are from the coasts of North Africa including countries like Libya and Tunisia. They are trying to reach the European Union via the Mediterranean. After private organisations like SOS Mediterranee rescue them at the sea, Italian authorities allow them into a small island called Lampedusa, Sicily, or the southern mainland.
The Italian Coast Guard recently saved over 1,000 migrants from the central Mediterranean Sea and brought them to Sicily. Another boat with 451 migrants from Sudan, Egypt, and Syria landed in Catanzaro Lido on Wednesday evening. The Mayor of the city wrote on his Facebook page that there is a legal duty to bring them to safety, take them in, and provide for their first needs.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry figures, nearly 50,000 people arrived in Italy in 2022. Many of them continue their journey to other EU nations. But, the number is significantly higher than the 2021 data. In the first seven months of 2021, only 34,000 migrants arrived in Italy.
Italy's right-wing parties have been calling for an end to the arrival of migrants. In the current election campaign, it is their major argument. Right-wing parties have been calling for operations to prevent the landing of migrant boats.