(ANSA) - A navy vessel carrying 293 Egyptian and Syrian
refugees was due to arrive in the southern port of Taranto on
Tuesday afternoon under the controversial joint navy and
coastguard rescue-and-surveillance operation Mare Nostrum
targeting migrants making the dangerous crossing to Italy by
sea.
The group comprised 168 men, 47 women and 78 children, of
whom 8 were travelling without a legal guardian.
Over 2,500 migrants have already landed in the Puglia
seaport over the last two weeks.
Rome launched Mare Nostrum after around 400 people were
killed in two migrant-boat disasters in October.
However the country is struggling to cope with a
significant increase in the already big flow of migrants this
year and is now calling on the European Union to take charge.
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