SOS Mediterannee, a European humanitarian NGO active in the Mediterranean said Monday that 294 migrants plucked from the waters off Libya have arrived in Sicily. Forty nine were children, the youngest only three years old.
FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017 file photo, rescuers transfer migrants rescued by an oil rig supply ship to the Aquarius vessel of SOS Mediterranee and MSF (Doctors Without Borders) NGOs, in the Mediterranean Sea, north of Libyan coast.
The migrants were pulled from both wooden boats and inflatable dinghies in various operations since May 19.
SOS Mediterranee charity criticized Italy the long time it took to bring the migrans ashore. Candida Lobes, communications officer on the rescue ship Ocean Viking, said keeping the migrants on board for ten days was "senseless".
"These people, who already were showing signs of trauma caused by what happened to them in Libya, and caused by the voyage in the Mediterranean Sea, needed immediate assistance and some of them were held at sea for over ten days," she said.
Italy has seen a surge in the number of migrant arrivals in recent weeks as the weather gets warmer.
As of May 30, 18,841 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea this year, according to the Ministry of Interior, up from 14,412 on the same date in 2021.
Authorities are concerned that a mounting food crisis, compounded by Ukraine's blockade of grain storage facilities, would spark a new migratory catastrophe from North Africa.
This week, Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese will host counterparts from five European nations in Venice to discuss the migrant crisis.
FILE - Italy's Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese makes a statement following a ministerial meeting in Athens, Saturday, March 20, 2021.
"The problem affects our countries first, but it is a problem that affects the entire continent," she said.