Italian coastguard Monday indicated that they saved around 6,500 migrants off the Libyan coast in forty operations making Monday the busiest day for rescuers.
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The dramatic operation took place 13 miles north of the town of Sabratha in Libya.
“We have a remarkable story of rescuing twins who were premature babies delivered at eight months and were five days old”, says Antonia Zemp, Medical Team Leader.
The Monday rescue operation came a day after more than 1,100 refugees were picked in the same area. It did not mention the refugees’ country of origin.
In July, Italy launched a campaign on TV, radio and social media to warn African migrants of the many dangers they face trying to reach Europe.
“More than 3,167 people have already lost their lives in the Mediterranean in 2016, according to IOM and UNHCR figures”.
Nearly all of those migrants originate from West Africa and the Horn of Africa, often departing from Libya en masse when the sea is calm and a southern wind can push boats up into global waters.
Data released on Friday by the International Organization for Migration said more than 100,000 migrants and refugees had reached Italy by boat this year, many of them setting sail from Libya.
Ships from the Italian Coast Guard plucked almost 6,500 African migrants off overcrowded boats on Tuesday.
The people have been taken to Italy to have their claims reviewed and processed.
The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), which conducts rescue operations in the Mediterranean, has called on the worldwide community to consider safe and legal routes to end the number of deaths at sea.
Overall, about 284,000 migrants have entered Europe so far this year through various transit routes across Africa, Asia or the Middle East.
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According to the United Nations refugee agency, some 204,000 refugees crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in the first half of 2016.
