262 migrants arrive in Sicily

Rome April 4 (IANS/AKI) A boat docked in the western Sicilian port of Trapani on Tuesday with 262 men and women on board who were rescued in the Mediterranean.

Tuesday s arrivals came as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 29 369 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 till April 2 with 80 percent reaching Italy and the rest Spain and Greece.

Arrivals to Italy were up by almost one-fifth while the number of people who died during the perilous crossing (602) was almost double compared with the same period last year the IOM figures showed.

As many as one million migrants are heading to Libya and Europe from countries across Africa the former head of the British embassy in Benghazi warned last week.

--IANS/AKI
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