TEMPO.CO, Rome - In a period of 24 hours until last Friday, the Italian Navy has saved more than 1,000 migrants trying to reach Europe in rough seas off Sicily, authorities revealed. Europe has long been a destination for a number of illegal immigrants from the neighboring countries.
As reported by Telegraph last Thursday, Italian navy helicopters spotted four migrant boats struggling to stay afloat in the Sicily Sea. The navy sent a ship to rescue the passengers.
The boats carried 823 men, women and children from countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Tunisia. The Navy then found another boat not long after. The boat carried 233 illegal immigrants from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Zambia, Mali and Pakistan.
Those illegal immigrants were taken to the nearest ports near Syracuse in the eastern cost of Sicily. They were identified before being returned to their respective countries.
Italy is the main gate to Europe for millions of illegal immigrants trying to have a better life. The number of those immigrants has been on the rise each year.
In 2013, the number of illegal immigrants from North Africa rose three times than the previous years.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | TELEGRAPH
