Over 900 migrants were helped by the crews of the Astral and Open Arms in recent days, according to a post by the private rescue organization Open Arms on X (Twitter).

On Thursday (August 3), the rescue yacht Astral, which is supported by the rescue organizations Mediterranea Saving Humans, Open Arms and Sea Watch, carried out "three complicated rescues," Open Arms wrote on X (Twitter).

A total of 136 migrants were rescued, including 35 women, one of whom was pregnant, and four children out of "precarious metal boats". They later disembarked on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, confirmed the X (Twitter) post on Friday morning.

The Open Arms rescue ship completed its 102nd mission on Thursday -- a "very difficult" rescue operation, said Open Arms head Oscar Camps on X (Twitter). Open Arms said the crew helped 777 people in over nine different rescue operations and assisted the Italian coast guard with other rescues too.

By the end of the last of the mission on Thursday, the Open Arms was carrying 264 people. The organization said it intended to disembark 66 people on Lampedusa, before heading for its assigned port of safety, Naples. According to the website Marine Traffic, the Open Arms is due to reach Naples at some point on Sunday (August 6).

Lampedusa: Fair weather has made crossings more frequent

An article on Sicilian regional newspaper La Sicilia said that hundreds of migrants had disembarked on Lampedusa in the last few days, partly due to low winds and fair weather. The newspaper called it the "Night of Arrivals" as a total of 372 migrants arrived on Lampedusa on small boats in the night from August 2-3.

One boat arrived under its own steam, and eight small boats were helped -- two by the rescue yacht Astral, and the others by the Italian coast guard and finance and border police (Guardia costiera and Guardia di finanza), reported La Sicilia. According to the paper, the migrants came from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Mali and Cameroon. The numbers on each boat ranged from 14 to 49.

The Astral brought in first 25 Egyptians and Tunisians, then 42 migrants originally from Guinea, Mali, Sudan and Ivory Coast. Later on in the early hours of August 3, the Carabinieri (Italy’s military police force) came across a group of 77 Tunisians in the streets of the island, including six women and 16 minors. They said they had crossed in a boat measuring about 9 meters long, but the Italian authorities have not yet found that, reported La Sicilia.

Also read: EU-Tunisia deal, encouraging the people smugglers?

'Hotspot' over capacity again

All of those who arrived by Thursday were taken to the first reception center, or 'hotspot', which is once again above capacity. On August 3, the center was reportedly holding 769 migrants, almost double its capacity. 180 people were transferred by flight to the north of Italy and Bergamo airport that day, and another 180 migrants were expected to take off for Bari on Thursday evening.

Under new Italian legislation, rescue ships are normally expected to carry out just one rescue and then proceed immediately to a port. However, according to the Spanish news agency EFE, this time, the Italian authorities who coordinate search and rescue in the area around their territory had asked the crew of the Open Arms to help in seven different rescues.

The organization Open Arms stated in a press release that the crew had been sailing towards the Roman port of Civitavecchia with 24 rescued migrants on board when they were asked to stay and continue helping with the rescues. "This was crucial to avoid any possible tragedies," stated Open Arms.

The organization said it was obvious that at the moment, with thousands of migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing, the Italian authorities are unable to cope with the need to rescue so many people at once. It underlined once again that it was of the utmost importance that Italy rethink its strategy and allow humanitarian ships to disembark rescued migrants in the nearest safe port possible so that they can assist other people more quickly, rather than sailing for days towards central or north Italy before disembarking.

The recent heatwave in Italy has also affected some operations on land in Sicily and the south. Reports of frequent power cuts and petrol shortages have made not just life but also the rescue operations harder.

Arrivals in Italy, nearing 100,000

According to the latest data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior (updated August 4 in the morning), since the beginning of 2023, 91,964 people have arrived by small boat in Italy. On August 3, a peak of arrivals showed that 1,554 people arrived in one single day.

The numbers of arrivals this year have been greater each month than the two previous years for every month since January, with the exception of May. In May 2023 8,154 migrants arrived compared to 8,720 in May 2022 and 5,679 in May 2021.

July so far this year has shown the greatest number of arrivals with 23,639 arriving in a single month, compared to 13,802 in July 2022 and 8,609 in July 2021. Last year the numbers of arrivals remained relatively high until the end of the year with August registering a peak in arrivals in 2022, which was still well below the current peak for July 2023.