Rome, April 11 (IANS) The Italian Coast Guard is conducting two large-scale operations to rescue some 1,200 migrants who are adrift in overcrowded boats off the coast of Sicily.
The two fishing boats are carrying 800 and 400 migrants, respectively, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
The boat carrying 400 people, which is believed to have set out from Tobruk in Libya, was still without help late on Monday evening, according to an unofficial hotline for migrants in distress, Alarm Phone.
It said it had raised an urgent alarm with the authorities of Italy, Greece and Malta on Sunday.
German non-governmental organisation Sea-Watch International said two merchant vessels near one of the ships had been ordered not to help with rescue efforts by Malta while the boat was in Maltese waters.
Instead, one of the ships had been allowed to supply it with fuel and water, reports the BBC.
Alarm Phone said that it had been in contact with people on board the boat, which is now in Italian waters south-east of Capo Passero.
A woman on board also said it was without its captain and had several people in need of medical care.
An operation to rescue the 800 people on the other boat is also underway south-east of Syracuse, but the operation has been complicated by overcrowding on board, the BBC quoted the Italian Coast Guard as saying.
It was not immediately clear where the boat had set out from.
Since April 7, Italy had already rescued around 2,000 people in other operations.
Other boats arrived at the Italian island of Lampedusa, one of the main arrival ports for people wanting to reach Europe, over the weekend.
At least two migrants died and around 20 others were missing after their boat capsized on Saturday night, according to German non-profit ResQship.
Every year, tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty risk the treacherous route in search of better economic prospects, CNN reported.
They travel in dinghies that are unfit for the journey and can be left stranded, sparking major diplomatic rows between European countries in the region.
In 2022, 105,131 people reached Italy via the Mediterranean Sea, while 1,368 were dead or missing, according to the latest figures from the UN Refugee Agency.
In March, at least 28 migrants died after their boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.
So far this year, 27,875 people have made the voyage and most of the arrivals were from the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Pakistan.
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