A reported 296 migrants reached the
Sicilian island of Lampedusa in the night between Sunday and
Monday after cutters operated by EU border agency Frontex,
finance police and coast guards intercepted and rescued five
boats.
During the day on Sunday, nine migrant boats had reached the
island carrying a total of 487 migrants.
The boats overnight, with a minimum of 43 passengers and maximum
of 100, had departed from Sabratha and Zuwara in Libya and Sfax
in Tunisia, the migrants said.
Passengers, who said they paid between 700 Tunisian dinars and
6,000 euros for the journey, hailed from Sudan, the Ivory Coast,
Guinea, Mali, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq and Pakistan.
The last 100 migrants who landed on Lampedusa said they wanted
to reach Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and Norway.
Only a few migrants said they planned to stay in Italy.
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