Three Syrian nationals were
detained on Tuesday on suspicion of trying to smuggle 99
immigrants into Italy on board an old luxury yacht in an attempt
to pass them off as tourists.
Ahmmed Sabaji, 25, Almotassem Billah Harroum, 31, and
Moustafa Haj Slima, 29, were allegedly at the helm of the boat
that departed from Turkey and ran into trouble in the Sicilian
channel.
The passengers, including 23 children, were subsequently
rescued by a merchant vessel and taken to the Sicilian port of
Pozzallo.
There they told investigators they had paid 8,500 euros
each for the passage to Italy and that they had been given
abundant food and water.
"The crew were well experienced and said that for them the
safety of the passengers was important," the migrants said.
"We paid a lot not to die, but we arrived," a migrant
added.
They disembarked in Italy as European leaders were debating
a new response to the growing influx of migrants arriving in the
Mediterranean from north Africa after the weekend's boat tragedy
in which as many as 900 people are feared to have died.
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