Looking for a new life ... migrants on a boat prior to their arrest and rescue by the Italian army off the coast of Sicily. Source: AFP
PACKED together like sardines, these incredible images reveal the dangerous and desperate attempts migrants are making in the hope of finding a better life.
More than 2,000 migrants arrived in Italy this week, bringing to a close an international operation to rescue refugees who had packed into 25 boats and travelled from Libya.
The migrants were taken to three Italian ports, with the largest contingent of 1,300 arriving at the southern Italian city of Taranto onboard a navy ship Etna, according to media reports.
The refugees, including hundreds of women and dozens of babies, were rescued as part of the Italian navy's "Mare Nostrum" operation, launched last year by Rome after two boats sank in October leaving more than 400 dead.
The majority of the migrants rescued at the weekend were Syrian and Sudanese.
They were likely to be taken to refugee centres across Italy.
Jammed in ... the Italian navy rescued asylum seekers travelling by boat off the coast of Africa from Libya. They were taken to three Italian ports and likely to be transferred to refugee centres inland. Picture: Massimo Sestini/Polaris, Australscope Source: Supplied
With standing room only, the asylum seekers are pictured in large boats, crammed in together.
A second contingent of 529 migrants were taken to the Sicilian capital, Palermo.
This group, transported to port on the Panamanian cargo ship City of Sidon, included 120 women, a dozen of them pregnant, and 19 children.
Thousands of refugees have been taken to Sicily in recent days where they are processed, though officials on the island said on the weekend they were no longer able to cope with the influx of people.
Many had no choice but to lie almost on top of each other, as they were rescued by the Italian Navy.
No room for comfort ... Syrian refugees sleeping on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 asylum seekers. Picture: Massimo Sestini/Polaris, Australscope Source: Supplied
A third group of 211 asylum-seekers were taken to another Sicilian port, Pozzallo, but are likely to be transferred to another location as reception centres there already hold more than 400 people.
The operation to rescue the migrants involved the Italian, Maltese and US navies.
Favourable weather conditions mean that thousand of migrants from Syria, Eritrea and other sub-Saharan countries have arrived or are expected to arrive on the Italian coast in the coming days.
Saving lives ... migrants being rescued off the coast of Libya. At least 10 people died and many more were missing as the navy could save only 39 asylum-seekers after a rubber dinghy shipwrecked 40 miles north off the Libyan coast. Source: AFP
Italy says that more than 50,000 migrants have landed on its shores since the start of this year — around the same number as for the whole of last year.
Neighbouring Malta says 2,200 have arrived on its islands.
Gil Arias Fernandez, the head of Frontex, the European Union border coordination agency, said recently that "hundreds of thousands" of migrants were currently in Libya and hoping to leave as soon as possible because of growing lawlessness.
Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano estimated that number at between 400,000 and 600,000 people.
Needing help ... migrants wait to board the Orione Offshore Patrol Vessel after being rescued. Source: AFP
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