Ignoring threats from Kalashnikov wielding gunmen, Italian coastguard rescues 2000 migrants

#mediterranean #migrants #libyancoast #italy #UNHCR It was a major rescue operation undertaken by the Italian coastguard when it managed to rescue over 2,000 Mediterranean migrants off the Libyan coast as reported in bbc.com dated 15 February 2015. At the time of rescue, the search teams were threatened by Kalashnikov-wielding men. They had approached in a speedboat from Libya.
This rescue effort involved a plane, four coastguard ships, two tugboats and a navy vessel and, as informed by local media, the migrants were crammed into 12 boats – they have, since, been shifted to Italy.
It may be recalled that only last week, at least 300 migrants met a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea. They were travelling in dinghies and ran into trouble when they faced stormy weather after leaving the coast of Libya. In between, another 600 migrants were rescued about 50 miles off the coast of the North African country.
Statistics of UNHCR reveal that almost 3,500 people died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and land in Europe in 2014. Such a large number of casualties makes this sea crossing the most dangerous one for migrants who are attempting to enter the European Union. Of course, during the same period, more than 200,000 people have been rescued also.

Over 200 migrants headed for Europe meet a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea

#marenostrum #triton #UNHCR #mediterraneansea #migrants UNHCR spokeswoman in Italy has confirmed that more than 200 migrants have met a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea after the motorboats they were travelling in sank as reported in bbc.com dated 11 February 2015.
It was possible to rescue only nine after they had been four days at sea and the remaining 203 were drowned. The UNHCR's spokeswoman described the situation as a "horrible and enormous tragedy".
Moreover, on Monday, at least 29 migrants died after the inflatable boat carrying them overturned in high seas. Seven of them were already dead when they were picked up near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Another 22 succumbed to hypothermia after they had spent over 18 hours on the open deck of the vessel which picked them up.
As informed by the International Organization for Migration, the two boats involved in the latest tragedy had departed from the Libyan coast on Saturday and each of the boats was carrying in excess of 100 people when they capsized.
Italy has to deal with migrants from African countries regularly and, hence, had started its Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue mission in October 2013 – that was as a result of a tragedy off Lampedusa in which 366 people died. The aim of this mission was to look for ships carrying migrants that may have run into trouble off the Libyan coast. However, it was disbanded after a year.
The European Union is now running a border control operation, called Triton – it has less number of ships and a much smaller area of operations. In the opinion of human rights groups, the closing down of Mare Nostrum would endanger lives. And, the mayor of Lampedusa, Giusi Nicolini, has said that Triton is not Mare Nostrum.