UN: 8,900 Mediterranean rescues since Saturday
FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 file photo showing an aerial view of a makeshift migrant camp near Calais, France. A French court has ruled against creating a new center for migrants in the western port city of Calais but says they should have access to water, showers and toilets, services the city’s mayor is refusing to provide, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
BUCHAREST — The Latest on Europe's response to the large numbers of migrants and refugees trying to reach the continent (all times local):
5:35 p.m.
Nearly 8,900 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea during the last few days.
The United Nations migration agency said on yesterday that 8,864 migrants trying to reach Europe on unseaworthy smugglers' dinghies and fishing boats have been safely rescued since June 24.
Libya-based smugglers take advantage of calm seas to launch as many boats as they can toward Italy, and conditions on the Mediterranean have been calm lately.
The Italian coast guard coordinates the transfer to southern Italian ports of migrants rescued at sea by Italian and European military or coast guard boats and private volunteer. A Spanish military vessel that took on some 800 migrants was expected in Sardinia Wednesday.
A European Frontex patrol ship arrived in Calabria on yesterday with 520 migrants and the bodies of two more aboard.
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