Hundreds of migrants cross Mediterranean Sea over the weekend

Authorities rescued 86 people as their boat got into difficulty off the southeast coast of Cyprus on Sunday (August 20). The group, which included 19 children, was brought to shore and will be transferred to a migrant reception center on the outskirts of Nicosia, Agence France Presse reported late Sunday.

A statement from the Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said a marine police patrol boat and two speedboats were involved in the rescue, which occurred off Cape Greco near Ayia Napa, a popular tourist resort.

Five days earlier, on August 15, 60 people were rescued in the same area.

The number of people arriving by boat to Cyprus has increased significantly in recent months. According to authorities, most set out from the Syrian port of Tartus and are detected once they reach the Cape Greco area.

Cyprus hosts about 45,750 asylum seekers, a large number relative to the population of less than 1 million. The rate of returns of people whose asylum claims have been refused has increased to 4,370 so far this year, compared with around 2,350 in 2022.

Further arrivals on Greek islands

The Greek coast guard said more than 110 people arrived on the islands of Kalymnos, Farmakonisi and Kos on Saturday and Sunday, while two boats carrying around 35 people altogether were found adrift off the Aegean island of Samos late in the day on Friday. The migrants were taken to the reception facility there.

Another group of 41 people traveling in an inflatable dinghy was reportedly picked up off Lesbos and taken to the migrant reception center on the island.

In a separate incident off the eastern Aegean islets of Arkii, a coast guard patrol boat chased a dinghy carrying 17 people. They were taken to the island of Patmos. One person was arrested in connection with people smuggling, AP news agency reported.

Also read: Greece: 90 people rescued in Aegean Sea, as number of migrants rises

Italy’s Lampedusa island sees hundreds more arrivals

Meanwhile several hundred people reached the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Central Mediterranean over the weekend. Dozens were rescued from unseaworthy boats while others made the journey to the Sicilian island without assistance.

The vessel ‘Aurora’ operated by the German organization Sea Watch, which rescued 72 people on Friday, was able to disembark the migrants in Lampedusa on Saturday evening. It had initially been ordered by Italian authorities to proceed to Trapani in Sicily but said it did not have enough water or fuel to make the distance.

Also read: More migrants arrive on Lampedusa, over 2,000 in hotspot

Meanwhile with facilities on Lampedusa overstretched, more than 1,000 migrants were due to be transported by ferry to Trapani and Porto Empedocle on the main island of Sicily on Saturday.

Central authorities in Italy have developed a new system for distributing migrants who arrive in Lampedusa. It is anticipated that there will be more transfers to sparsely-populated regions like Sardinia and Basilicata, the Italian daily ‘Corriere della Sera’ reported on Sunday.

Private rescue ships continue to face prolonged journeys to ‘safe ports’ assigned by the authorities. The Spanish NGO Open Arms, which operates a rescue vessel of the same name, said Sunday that it expects to dock in Carrara in northern Italy on Tuesday. The ship has 195 migrants on board, including a baby, rescued in several operations last week.

Sea Eye rescues more than 100 migrants in distress

In international waters between Malta and the Greek island of Crete, a ship operated by the organization Sea Eye took on board a further 114 migrants over a 72-hour period at the weekend. Four of those rescued were unconscious.

Italian authorities told the ship to dock at the port of Salerno, southeast of Naples.

Official figures show that about 103,000 people have traveled to Italy in small migrant boats so far this year (as of August 18), more than twice the number who arrived in the same period last year.

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Also read: Italy’s new sea rescue law: NGO’s file complain with EU commission

Western Mediterranean route

In the Western Mediterranean on Saturday and Sunday around 137 migrants were detected traveling to the Balearic islands by boat, according to Spanish authorities.

Citing a local German language newspaper, ‘Mallorca Zeitung’, the news agency KNA reported that 796 people migrants have arrived by boat on the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera since the beginning of this year.

The Mediterranean is considered one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world. No coordinated sea rescue operation exists in the Mediterranean.

While rescues of migrants are frequently reported, hundreds of people are known to die while attempting to cross its waters to Europe. According to the International Organization for Migration more than 2,200 people have died or gone missing since the beginning of this year. This figure does not include the many deaths or disappearances that are never reported.

With KNA, DPA, EPD, AP, AFP