More than 800 immigrants in the Mediterranean were rescued from Italy by Migration News

The charity ship goes to Sicily with 236 people and the coast guard and the border police brought another 532 to Lampedusa.

A charity boat has set sail for the Italian port of Sicily with 236 people rescued from the traffickers ’ships in the Mediterranean, while Italian coastguards and border police have brought another 532 to a small island.

The SOS Mediterranee maritime rescue team said on Saturday that an operating ship, Ocean Viking, had taken the migrants out of two rubber boats four days ago.

At the behest of Italian authorities, Ocean Viking was aboard the ship Augusta (Sicily) with its passengers, and said it was carrying 119 minors who were assisted.

SOS Mediterranean said some passengers told rescuers they had been beaten by smugglers stationed in Libya and forced to board their ships despite heavy waves.

On the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, which is closer to North Africa than the Italian peninsula, Mayor Salvatore Martello said migrants from four boats in need of rescue had landed at night. They were rescued by Italian coastguards and customs police boats.

For its part, an Italian navy ship rescued 49 migrants, Italian state television reported.

On Saturday there was another charity boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Sea-Watch 4, carrying 308 people from rescuers launched by traffickers in four different operations, Sea-Watch said in a statement.

The first rescue, of 44 people, took place on Thursday, he said.

‘Rescue gap’

Sea-Watch 4 has requested a port to land immigrants from Italy and Malta.

“As we are a civilian rescue ship, saving so many people at sea once again shows the fundamental rescue gap that European states have created at the world’s most dangerous maritime border,” said Hannah Wallace Bowman. Head of Mission for Sea-Watch 4.

Warmer weather in the spring often increases the number of migrant vessels bound for Libya based in Libya.

Last month, SOS Mediterranean workers and a merchant ship spotted several bodies from a wrecked ship believed to be carrying 130 migrants.

People aboard the boat called for help in Libyan waters, but no Coast Guard ships from Libya, Italy or Malta came, the aid team said. He was not found alive.

Humanitarian groups have called on European Union nations to restart the deployment of military vessels on Mediterranean rescue patrols.

Hundreds of thousands of rescued migrants, many of whom were not eligible for asylum, were brought to Italy by coastguards, navies, border police and other nations, ending large-scale rescue operations in the North Libyan Sea.

Italy has been supplying and training Libyan coastguards to rescue migrants in their search and rescue area and to prevent traffickers.

Human rights groups and UN agencies have denounced ill-treatment in Libyan detention centers, where migrants rescued or apprehended by Libyan coastguards are being held.

They say migrants suffer enough beatings, rapes and rations.