Almost 4,000 migrants arrived
in Italy over the weekend, including one ship bearing as many as
100 children and at least two pregnant women among its 1,044
passengers, authorities said Monday.
A navy frigate brought that group to the port of Salerno
after rescuing the migrant vessel in the Strait of Sicily under
Italy's search-and-rescue operation Mare Nostrum.
Authorities said the migrants will be transferred to
accommodation centers in regions all over the country including
Liguria, Piemonte, Lazio, Tuscany, Veneto, Umbria, Friuli,
Basilicata and Abruzzo.
Many of the total arriving between Friday and Sunday
evening sailed from North Africa on rickety vessels, keeping
Italian rescue vessels active in finding migrants making the
perilous crossing.
Last week, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano announced that
Italy's Mare Nostrum, which was set up almost one year ago as a
temporary measure, will be replaced by an expanded version of
European Union border control agency Frontex.
The Italian operation has cost nine million euros a month,
taking up the bulk of the Navy's budget.
Italy had been calling for the EU to step in to shoulder
some of the burden.
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