Another surge of migrants has brought around 5,000 desperate souls to Italy over just this weekend. This brings 2015’s figure so far to more than 50,000 arrivals registered by Italy.
The latest arrivals resulted from rescues on Saturday from 15 boats which had set out from the failed state of Libya. On Sunday, at least 14 more rescue operations were conducted.
This was one of the busiest rescue weekends this year and it is likely to be a harbinger as people traffickers will take greater chances now that summer is bringing calmer seas.
The international effort involved the Italian authorities and naval ships from the UK, Ireland and Germany as well as an independent Maltese group backed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). On Sunday, the Spanish and Swedish navies participated alongside the Italian coastguard.
The UNHCR’s Federico Fossi said the fact there was safe passage and no reported shipwrecks was down to increased rescue efforts by the EU.
Fossi said the current situation marked a big improvement since April, when 800 people drowned in a single shipwreck. That tragedy prompted EU nations to triple the monthly rescue funding to €9 million.
The fact that so many migrants target Italy has led to the rise of the far right Northern League party which made gains in local elections after campaigning against the migrant “invasion”.
