The Italian coastguard said it coordinated the rescue of about 6500 migrants in one of its busiest days of life-saving in recent years, the AFP reported.
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Over the past year, 105,342 migrants have reached Italy by boat, majority setting off from Libya.
However, those from African countries such as Eritrea and Somalia, as well as west African nations such as Nigeria and the Gambia, are continuing to attempt the crossing from Libya to Italy.
The Italian coastguards, humanitarian NGOs Proactiva Open Arms and Médecins Sans Frontières and EU’s border agency Frontex took part in 40 rescue operations 20 km off the Libyan coasts to save the migrants; some of whom jumped to the sea to reach the rescuers.
Médecins Sans Frontières’ ship Dignity 1 and the Spanish humanitarian group Proactiva Open Arms carried out the rescue on August 29.
Packed on board a number of boats, the migrants, some carrying babies, were brought aboard the rescue vessels along with the suspected smugglers.
The wet personal belonging of a migrant are spread out to dry in the sun after he was rescued from the Mediterranean sea off Libya on Monday.
The Italian coast guard and aid agency Medicins Sans Frontiers were expected to transfer them to the Italian mainland or Sicily.
Most of the migrants rescued this week came from sub-Saharan Africa.
An Armed Forces of Malta sea vessel is now participating in a rescue operation involving some 270 people south of Malta but an army spokesperson said that the asylum seekers are expected to be taken to Italy.
But as migrant boats and rafts cross the Mediterranean Sea, gateways into Europe are narrowing and many are growing wary.
Prior to Monday’s rescue, August had been a relatively quiet month for sea migrant arrivals, with about 12,600 compared to 23,500 during August 2015, IOM data showed. At this rate, according to the IOM, the number of deaths will likely exceed last year’s total of 3,771.
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More than 1 million migrants fled to Europe in 2015, according to IOM figures, prompting a political crisis among European Union member states as to which countries will host them. According to The New York Times, Nicholas Papachrysostomou, a field coordinator who played a role in the rescue, says, “Both of them are doing well”.
