ITALY: 6,000 people rescued from the Mediterranean

More than 6,000 people have been rescued on the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy in the last few days, as greater numbers take to the sea in warmer weather, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.  About 500 refugees and so-called economic migrants are believed to have drowned so far this […]

More than 6,000 people have been rescued on the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy in the last few days, as greater numbers take to the sea in warmer weather, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.  About 500 refugees and so-called economic migrants are believed to have drowned so far this year, including 22 deaths just reported by the Libyan coast guard, according to IOM spokesman Joel Millman.
“We have yet to complete March, and we are already racing at a pace of arrivals that has exceeded anything we’ve seen before in the Mediterranean. This is typical of spring, getting very busy,” he said.
“But it’s not typical to have the numbers be so high this early and the corresponding deaths that go with it.”