EUROPE

Thousands Rescued Off Libya in 22 Operations in One Day

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — More than 4,000 migrants have been rescued off Libya’s coast in 22 separate operations in one day, and rescuers found 17 people dead aboard a rubber dinghy, the Italian Coast Guard said Saturday.
The rescues, from 13 wooden fishing boats and nine motorized rubber dinghies, took place Friday. In all, 4,243 rescued migrants were being taken to southern Italian harbors, including Sicily’s.
Smugglers are reaping millions by overcrowding unseaworthy boats with migrants on Libya’s Mediterranean coast to set out for Italian shores. The migrants are fleeing war, persecution or poverty in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Cargo ships and Irish and German Navy vessels helped Italian military craft in Friday’s rescues. Italy has demanded its European partners help more with the migrants, who have been coming in huge numbers this year. Last year, Italy rescued about 170,000 migrants at sea.
The latest arrivals, after several days without rescues, followed a pattern. When seas are rough or weather stormy, few or no boats set out. When a calm spell arrives, smugglers launch as many boats as they can, cramming in more migrants than can be safely carried. Many vessels soon run into difficulties. The Italian Coast Guard coordinates rescues after receiving distress calls via satellite phones from the migrant boats or when the craft are spotted by military patrol boats or aircraft.
The Italian interior minister, Angelino Alfano, warned Saturday that migrant arrivals would continue unabated as long as Libya, where rival governments and violent militias hold sway, is plagued by chaos.
The high cost of rescuing and sheltering migrants while they seek asylum is campaign fodder in Sunday’s local and regional elections in Italy. Matteo Salvini, the leader of the anti-immigrant Northern League, urged voters to choose his party, saying that whoever does not “is an accomplice of the invasion” of migrants into the country.