Last weekend some 5600 migrants were rescued in the Central Mediterranean with assistance of Spanish, Swedish, Maltese and British vessels deployed in operation Triton. Out of the 32 Search and Rescue operations launched by the Italian and Maltese SAR authorities since Friday, 22 operations are still on-going. All aircraft and vessels coordinated by Frontex were fully deployed.
While most activities took place South of Sicily, an Icelandic airplane and a British vessel were involved in the rescue operations off the southern coasts of Puglia and Calabria – also covered by operation Triton.
Between Saturday and Sunday over 2400 migrants were disembarked in the Sicilian ports of Trapani, Pozzallo, Palermo, Augusta and Catania on the island of Lampedusa and in Crotone in Calabria.
Since the beginning of the year more than 54 000 migrants have arrived in Italy. The majority come from Eritrea, Somalia and a variety of sub Saharan and West African countries.