Mediterranean Migrant Crossings

More than 1,000 migrants were brought ashore to southern Italy on Saturday after coastguards launched major rescue operations for three boats struggling in rough seas off Calabria.

It was a Sunday that Italian fisherman Vincenzo Luciano will never forget. Well before dawn he ran to the beach near his house and started pulling bodies from the sea, victims of a deadly migrant shipwreck that has so far claimed 67 lives.

Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said Sunday.

At least 43 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy.

More than 50 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean on Sunday, the majority off the coasts of Tunisia and Turkey, while Italy marked a sea change in its policy.

A baby boy named Miracle has been born on board a humanitarian ship - a bright spot as the tide of migrants risking sea crossings from Libya to Italy has increased as the weather has improved.

Rescuers plucked around 900 migrants from boats in the Mediterranean on Friday while hundreds more were brought to Sicily, as Italian figures showed far more people are braving the crossing from North Africa this year than last.

At least 3,800 migrants and refugees have perished this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the highest ever toll ever on the perilous route, the UN said Wednesday.

More than 100 African migrants were saved from the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain on Saturday after attempting the perilous crossing to Europe on a rickety boat, officials said.

Some 235,000 migrants in Libya are ready to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Italy as soon as the opportunity arises, UN envoy Martin Kobler said in an interview published today.

Officials in Alabama say a man has been rescued after falling roughly 40 feet into a hold of a ship out of Norway.

The treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing from Libya to Italy has claimed the lives of over 1,030 migrants in the last week, mostly as barely seaworthy smuggling boats foundered and sank despite calm seas and sunny skies, a migration agency said Tuesday, citing new accounts from survivors.

Italy is to introduce the fingerprinting of migrants crossing the Mediterranean as soon as they are picked up by rescue boats, officials say.

The Libyan coastguard on Sunday stopped three boats carrying 600 migrants including pregnant women trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, an official said.

Over one million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015, nearly half of them Syrians, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said today.

More than 1,000 migrants were brought ashore to southern Italy on Saturday after coastguards launched major rescue operations for three boats struggling in rough seas off Calabria.

It was a Sunday that Italian fisherman Vincenzo Luciano will never forget. Well before dawn he ran to the beach near his house and started pulling bodies from the sea, victims of a deadly migrant shipwreck that has so far claimed 67 lives.

Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said Sunday.

At least 43 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy.

More than 50 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean on Sunday, the majority off the coasts of Tunisia and Turkey, while Italy marked a sea change in its policy.

A baby boy named Miracle has been born on board a humanitarian ship - a bright spot as the tide of migrants risking sea crossings from Libya to Italy has increased as the weather has improved.

Rescuers plucked around 900 migrants from boats in the Mediterranean on Friday while hundreds more were brought to Sicily, as Italian figures showed far more people are braving the crossing from North Africa this year than last.

At least 3,800 migrants and refugees have perished this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the highest ever toll ever on the perilous route, the UN said Wednesday.

More than 100 African migrants were saved from the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain on Saturday after attempting the perilous crossing to Europe on a rickety boat, officials said.

Some 235,000 migrants in Libya are ready to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Italy as soon as the opportunity arises, UN envoy Martin Kobler said in an interview published today.

Officials in Alabama say a man has been rescued after falling roughly 40 feet into a hold of a ship out of Norway.

The treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing from Libya to Italy has claimed the lives of over 1,030 migrants in the last week, mostly as barely seaworthy smuggling boats foundered and sank despite calm seas and sunny skies, a migration agency said Tuesday, citing new accounts from survivors.

Italy is to introduce the fingerprinting of migrants crossing the Mediterranean as soon as they are picked up by rescue boats, officials say.

The Libyan coastguard on Sunday stopped three boats carrying 600 migrants including pregnant women trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, an official said.

Over one million migrants and refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015, nearly half of them Syrians, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said today.