17 dead, 454 rescued in ‘biggest migrant wave of 2015’

The corpses of 17 migrants have been brought ashore in Sicily, aboard an Italian naval vessel, along with 454 survivors, European Union (EU) authorities said on Monday.

This is contained in a written statement by Fabrice Leggeri, executive director of Frontex, EU’s border control agency.

“More than 5,000 migrants trying to reach Europe have been saved from boats in distress in the Mediterranean since Friday. Operations are in progress to rescue 500 more,” the statement said.

EU has intensified efforts to rescue people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Frontex said that in some of the most intense Mediterranean traffics of the year, migrants who left Libya in 25 boats were picked up by ships from Italy, Britain, Malta and Belgium. The agency is also assisted by planes from Iceland and Finland.

Naval and merchant vessels involved in rescue operations also came from countries, including Germany, Ireland and Denmark.

The 17 corpses found on one of the boats arrived in the Sicilian port of Augusta, aboard the Italian navy corvette Fenice. Italian prosecutors say they are investigating the circumstances of their death.

Frontex is coordinating an EU rescue mission in the Mediterranean known as Triton, which was stepped up after around 800 migrants drowned off Libya in April in the Mediterranean’s most deadly shipwreck in living memory.

“This is the biggest wave of migrants we have seen in 2015,” leggeri said. “The new vessels that joined operation Triton this week have already saved hundreds of people.”

Italy has so far borne the brunt of Mediterranean rescue operations.

Most of the migrants departed from the coast of Libya, which has descended into anarchy since Western powers backed a 2011 revolt that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

The EU agreed on a naval mission to target gangs smuggling migrants from Libya, but a broader plan to deal with the influx is in doubt, due to a dispute over national quotas for housing asylum seekers.

The plan to disperse 40,000 migrants from Italy and Greece to other countries met with resistance this week, with Britain saying it would not participate and some eastern countries calling for a voluntary scheme.