The Italian Navy said Wednesday it intercepted two boats in the Mediterranean Sea carrying 730 migrants, who are being taken to a port in Sicily’s Agrigento region.
The overcrowded boats, which departed from North Africa, were in danger of capsizing and were not equipped with life jackets, it added.
Sicily is a gateway for migrants, many from war-torn African countries, who seek European Union protections. Shipwrecks off the coasts of the islands of Sicily and Lampedusa are common, as are successful arrivals. Italy’s proximity to North Africa, and its lenient policy of allowing undocumented migrants to enter, have made it a target of these typically overcrowded vessels.
The European border agency Frontex said over 20,000 undocumented migrants were detected off the coasts of Sicily and Lampedusa in the third quarter of 2013.
The latest arrivals came the day after Lower House Speaker Laura Boldini told fellow parliament members Italy should be “more ethical with migrants.” Speaking at the release of a tourism report, Boldini said that “offering luxury services to affluent tourists, only to treat migrants from less-fortunate parts of the world in sometimes unacceptable ways, is an intolerable contradiction.”
[CNN] [La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno]
