print:1,300 migrants rescued from Sicilian waters

A spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration explained that nearly 5,000 migrants searching for better lives had died this year, compared to 2,376 last year. Of the 2014 death toll, 3,000 drowned in the Mediterranean passage to Europe from North Africa.

Two Africans gave birth aboard migrant ships on the way to Italy. Kate, a Nigerian, gave birth on Dec. 25 on the Etna, an Italian navy ship. Pictured here with nurses and her newborn, an Eritrean woman who gave birth on the same ship on Dec. 16. | Photo: AFP

More than 1,300 migrants were rescued Friday from the Sicily Channel, the Italian navy reported. Military spokespeople said that four operations were underway, conducted by Borsini, Driade and Etna military fleets, along with two merchant ships.

More than 900 migrants underwent medical analysis and security checks before being transferred to land in Messina, Sicily. Another 400 undocumented migrants were transported to the Sicilian port city Pozzallo, while 50 more were rescued in a makeshift boat approximately 150 km off the south of Lapedusa island. The majority of the undocumented immigrants said they were Nigerian citizens and that they had left Libya last Tuesday.

Italy’s Interior Minister, Angelino Alfano told El Pais that immigration patterns have changed in the past few years.

“Previously, people mostly fled for economic reasons but now, they are coming from war zones, and the majority are requesting political asylum;” Alfano said.

The U.N. refugee agency warned Wednesday that the international community was failing in its response to the growing number of people making risky sea journeys in search of asylum or migration.

The agency revealed that since the beginning of the year, an unprecedented 348,000 people traveled across the sea to safer lands, or lost their lives in the attempt.

Addressing a United Nations briefing in New York, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration explained that nearly 5,000 migrants searching for better lives had been killed this year, compared to 2,376 last year. Of the 2014 death toll, 3,000 drowned in the Mediterranean passage to Europe from North Africa.

Most recently, 70 Ethiopians drowned in the Red Sea in a rickety boat near Yemen.

Meanwhile, the EU announced on Dec. 16 plans to implement a more restrictive immigration policy to the bloc, as xenophobic movements gain momentum, particularly in the more affluent north.

Thousands of African migrants die each year trying to reach Europe.

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