A new wave of migrants left Africa by sea in recent days bound for Italian shores, bringing with it new victims. The Italian Coast Guard undertook 11 rescue operations in which 1,400 migrants were saved and three died at sea, including an infant boy.
On Tuesday, the Italian Coast Guard coordinated 11 separate rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, saving 1,400 migrants at sea and recovering two lifeless bodies. One of the bodies was that of an infant boy, according to Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, which took part in aid operations with a boat carrying 400 passengers.
The body of a third victim, a middle-aged man from the Maghreb, was recovered by Carabinieri police after it washed up on the western shore of Sicily at Torre Salsa. The migrant drowned during the frantic phases of a landing that took place between the Sicilian coastal towns of Siculiana and Montallegro, and there were no witnesses.
Operations involved 11 migrant vessels
The Italian Coast Guard operations involved seven rubber boats and three smaller boats as well as a barge. The Lampedusa Coast Guard's CP319 patrol boat took part in the operations, as well as a unit from EU Navfor Med, an Italian finance police unit, and a unit made up of humanitarian organization workers.
Also on Tuesday, a 12-meter fishing boat carrying 47 migrants from the Maghreb was intercepted and blocked by a Carabinieri police patrol boat at the port of Lampedusa. The migrants, all of whom were in good health, were taken to the island's migrant hotspot, and the boat was seized.
2018 arrivals to Italy down 59 percent
Italian Interior Ministry data, which don't take Tuesday's rescues into account, show that 974 people landed in Italy in the first 15 days of 2018, which is 59 percent less compared to the same period in 2017. Of those, 544 departed from Libya, which is 75 percent less than 2017 figures. The majority of migrants who have arrived thus far in 2018 are from Senegal (90), followed by Tunisia (67), Nigeria (56) and Gambia (50).