31 May 16

Had ISIS planned this?

Thousands of African Migrants Risk Lives Fleeing Africa – Hoping at a Chance of Asylum
The rescue mission was launched when a helicopter spotted one of the boats south of the island of Lampedusa, midway between the coasts of Tunisia and Italy.
More than 300 people drowned in the region last year when their boat sank.
Some 335 migrants were rescued from one dinghy alone, while a further 788 were pulled to safety by the crews of two naval ships.
They were given food and medical treatment and taken to the Sicilian port of Augusta.
Every year, thousands of African, Asian or Middle Eastern migrants set out on risky voyages across the Mediterranean Sea in unsafe boats, seeking refuge in central Europe.
Hundreds of people die every year while attempting to complete the crossing.
Italian navy rescue more than 1,000 migrants in a day More than a thousand migrants have been rescued by the Italian navy after they attempted to reach the Italian coast from the north of Africa More than 1,000 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in nine overcrowded rafts and dinghies were rescued by the Italian navy in the space of just 24 hours, one of the largest figures for years.
The vessels, in which around 1,120 migrants were packed tightly, were first spotted in waters 120 miles south of Sicily on Wednesday by Italian military helicopters attached to navy ships.
Once reached by navy patrol vessels, the migrants were given life jackets and transferred to a larger ship, the San Marco.
The amphibious assault ship was due to arrive in the port of Augusta, in Sicily, on Friday.
The countries of origin of the asylum seekers were not known but from photographs released by the navy, many of them appeared to be from sub-Saharan Africa.
It is thought they were trying to reach Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island, which for years has been a gateway to Europe for illicit migration by sea.
The migrants included around 50 women, of whom at least four were pregnant, as well as 50 children.
The turmoil in the wake of the Arab Spring, the civil war in Syria and acute instability in the Horn of Africa has led to a sharp increase in the number of immigrants trying to reach Italian shores in the past year.
Last year nearly 43,000 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers reached Italy by sea, more than three times as many as in 2012.
The Italian government this week described the numbers as “an incessant and massive influx of migrants.”
The main country of origin was Syria, which accounted for more than 11,000 migrants, a massive increase on the 582 Syrians who arrived in Italy by sea in 2012.
The second main country of origin was Eritrea, with nearly 10,000 migrants from the East African nation reaching Italian soil. “abc news” “cbs news” “ap news” “nbc news” “bbc news” “wall street digital” “rt news” “breaking news” “world news” “global news” “latest news” “scientific news” “24 hour news” “apocalypse news” politics bomb blast migrants sryians “Italian navy” “north Africa” “patrol vessel” “italian government” influx incessant Up to 20,000 people are believed to have drowned in the last two decades trying to reach Italian territory from the coast of North Africa.
One of the worst incidents happened last October, when more than 360 Eritreans died when their boat sank at night within sight of Lampedusa. It took days for Italian navy and police divers to recover the bodies, which were trapped inside the upturned hull of the former fishing vessel.

Over 700 migrants feared dead in Mediterranean shipwrecks this week – UN