Originally published on February 7, 2014
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The Italian navy has rescued more than 1,100 migrants from nine large rafts in the waters south of Sicily, according to Reuters. The group of migrants were apparently rescued during a 24-hour period from February 5-6.
The migrants included 47 women, four of them pregnant, and 50 children, all probably from sub-Saharan Africa, according to the navy said.
Rafts were reportedly spotted about 120 miles (222km) south-east of Lampedusa. Patrol helicopters arrived on the scene to identify the overcrowded rafts on Wednesday, and four navy vessels joined the rescue mission, which ended early on Thursday. Officers aboard navy patrol vessels gave the migrants life jackets and transferred them to a larger ship.
It wasn't immediately known what the countries of origin were for the asylum seekers, but many of them appeared to be from sub-Saharan Africa.
Reuters reports, "Italy is a major gateway into Europe for migrants, and sea arrivals more than tripled in 2013 from the previous year, fuelled by Syria's civil war and strife in the Horn of Africa."
The Telegraph reports, "Up to 20,000 people are believed to have drowned in the last two decades trying to reach Italian territory from the coast of North Africa.
"One of the worst incidents happened last October, when more than 360 Eritreans died when their boat sank at night within sight of Lampedusa.
"It took days for Italian navy and police divers to recover the bodies, which were trapped inside the upturned hull of the former fishing vessel."
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