Italy coastguard rescues 3,000 migrants adrift at sea

Italy's coastguard rescued 1,200 migrants from two stricken vessels on Monday night after saving around 2,000 others over the weekend, during a sharp increase in the scale of "irregular migration" into the country.

The migrants intercepted on Monday had paid smugglers to take them to the country illegally in two overcrowded fishing boats that hit huge swells in the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the boats is thought to have also run out of fuel and, after having been abandoned by its captain, had been drifting in open seas.

Charities that work with migrants said as many as 26,000 people have either gone missing or died since 2014, while attempting to cross from North Africa to Italy.

Sea-Watch, a nongovernmental group that works with migrants, told the BBC one of the fishing boats intercepted on Monday had 800 people on board and the other had 400. Sea-Watch said one of the boats had been in "huge danger" amid massive waves about 200 kilometers from Sicily's south coast.

Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata said one of the boats had left the Libyan port of Tobruk. It was not immediately clear where the other boat had set off from.

Alarm Phone said on its Twitter account ahead of the rescues: "The people on board are in panic and ask for immediate rescue."

The nonprofit said one of the vessels had been taking on water since Sunday and had been drifting in rough seas between Greece and Malta before ending up in the Italian waters.

Medical attention needed

"A woman reported the seriousness of the conditions on board. The captain left and there is nobody who can steer the boat. Several people require medical attention, including a child, a pregnant woman, and a person with a physical disability," it added.

Sea-Watch said it encountered one of the vessels on Sunday and that other ships wanting to help had been told to stay clear.

"Two merchant ships that are ordered not to rescue, instead one was asked by Malta to only supply the boat with fuel," ABC News quoted Sea-Watch as saying.

Alarm Phone said some of the migrants had jumped into the water when the merchant ship arrived with fuel, but had been unable to board the vessel.

BBC reported that the German nonprofit migrant support group ResQship said at least two people died during the weekend's migrant boat crossings.

The broadcaster said Italy's right-wing government had vowed to greatly reduce the scale of "irregular migration" into the country, but that despite its efforts, many more migrants had arrived this year than in 2022.