LAMPEDUSA, SICILY – In addition to the recent influx of migrant arrivals on the small island of Lampedusa, an operation is currently underway in the Ionian Sea to rescue three overloaded boats of approximately 1,300 migrants, according to the Italian Coast Guard. 

 One boat, carrying 500 people, was spotted just 70 miles south of Crotone, the city of the migrant shipwreck that occurred at the end of February. The other two boats, carrying a total of 800 people, were spotted about 100 miles southeast of Roccella Ionica.

 Besides the three main boats, there were also spottings of a “large number of people present on the drifting boats,” according to the Coast Guard.

 The additional drifting boats that were spotted led the Coast Guard to ask for Naval support due to the intensity of the rescue operation. There are eight Coast Guard boats and an aircraft currently on the scene. 

 Luca Casarini, the head of Mediterranea Saving Humans, said to ANSA that the boat of 500 is leaking and is a “distressing situation,” following his request for an immediate rescue operation Friday afternoon.

 “It’s not a police operation that’s needed, it’s a fishing boat full of refugees on the run, asking for help, there are dozens of women and children and from on board they report that they are already taking on water,” said Casarini.

 The boat of 500 is believed to have come from Libya. Alarm Phone, a telephone service that assists with rescue operations at sea, has been alerted and is in contact with passengers on the boat. Those migrants are expected to arrive Saturday morning in the port of Reggio Calabria.

 The small island of Lampedusa has also seen an influx in arrivals over the past week, totaling almost 3,000. The island, which sits about 300 kilometers south of Sicily, is a hotspot for migrants traveling the Central Mediterranean route. But the island's rescue center has a capacity of just 400 seats, and the number of migrants arriving in the main port has led the Ministry of the Interior to begin transfers to the mainland.

 This year, migrant arrivals in Italy are at a 195 percent increase from last year. There has been a total of 17,500, according to Frontex — a number that is expected to go up as the weather improves, despite the Meloni government’s recent decree to crack down on people smugglers.   

jd