(By Denis Greenan).
Italy's migrant centres braced to go
even further over capacity as fresh waves of immigrants
approached from North Africa Friday.
"The system is under extreme strain and could collapse
entirely if the EU doesn't help us share the load more fairly,"
said Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
Almost 1,200 asylum seekers landed in Sicily Friday,
bringing to almost 2,000 the latest in a wave of new arrivals
swollen by good weather and a sweeping new rescue operation
launched after 400 migrants drowned in two disasters last year.
An Italian Navy ship, part of the major Mare Nostrum
search-and-rescue op, reached the port of Augusta where the
1,170 migrants will disembark and be processed.
The migrants, from various North African countries, were
picked up Thursday close to the stepping-stone island of
Lampedusa.
Mare Nostrum is credited with saving almost all lives of
the recent migrants who brave the perilous crossing towards a
better life in Europe.
But Italy says it will be overwhelmed by almost one million
desperate people massing on the North African shores, and has
made the umpteenth appeal to the EU for help in coping with the
emergency.
Separately Friday, more than 300 North African asylum
seekers were rescued south of Sicily and taken to the port of
Messina.
And even earlier on Friday the Navy rescued 358 migrants in
the Sicilian Channel between Italy and Africa.
The migrants, who are bidding for refugee status, included
43 women, one of them pregnant, and 24 children.
The asylum seekers said they came from Mali, Ghana, Niger,
Sudan, Syria and the Palestinian Territories.
The Navy ship was rerouted from Ragusa to Palermo after it
became clear that migrant centres at Pozzallo near Ragusa were
overflowing.
"There's simply no capacity left there, and it looks like
getting worse," the interior ministry said.
In better news, an Egyptian people trafficker was arrested
in Ragusa after ferrying hundreds of migrants close to Sicily.
The 34-year-old is said to have demanded thousands of euros
in 'bills of passage' from his human freight, and is suspected
of abusing them physically and sexually during the trip.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
