(VOVworld) - At least 800 migrants were rescued off the coast of Sicily on Thursday, the Italian coast guard and the UN refugee agency reported.
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Italian coast guard rescues migrants off the coast of Sicily, May 12, 2016.
(Photo: Italian Navy/Massimo Sestini via UNHCR Italia) |
A total of 515 people were rescued from the first boat while around 300 others were taken off the second. Of the 342 rescued by Italy’s Nave Peluso coastguard vessel, there were “at least 150 Syrian refugees and more than 40 Iraqis” on board. It was by far the largest number of Syrian refugees to arrive in Italy so far this year. The rescued people are expected to be sent to the port of Augusta in the Southeast of Sicily on Friday.
In another development, EU member states have signed off on six more months of border controls within the Schengen area to deal with the worst migrant crisis since the World War II. The move allows Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden to continue border checks within the bloc’s passport-free zone until close to the end of the year.