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Vessels deployed by Frontex help rescue 2,800 people in Central Mediterranean

Vessels deployed by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, helped rescue more than 2 800 migrants from 20 rubber and wooden boats coming from Libya this weekend.

Majority of the rescued people are believed to have come from Sub Saharan and North African countries, although their nationalities will only be known after the migrants are registered and screened in Italy. Women, some pregnant, and many children were among those rescued.

Five vessels taking part in Frontex operation Triton were present in the area covering the flows from Libya and were diverted by the Italian Coast Guard to take part in the rescue operations. Frontex assists the Italian authorities with its border control operation Triton where it currently deploys 11 vessels (some of which belong to the Italian authorities but are financed by Frontex). The operation also includes three airplanes and three helicopters, as well as 334 border and coast guard officers. Their activities include border surveillance, search and rescue, identification and registration of migrants.

“The crews of the vessels taking part in the Frontex operation in the Central Mediterranean continue to do their utmost to help the Italian authorities rescue people who were put on often unseaworthy boats well beyond any imaginable capacity by ruthless smugglers. It is very important that we focus our efforts on dismantling these networks,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.

Excluding the people who have been rescued this weekend, the number of migrants who arrived in Italy this year rose 43% to 36 000.

The operational area of Triton covers the migratory flows, as well as activities related to cross border crime, from Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Turkey and Albania.

Frontex also assists the Italian authorities by collecting information about various types of cross-border crime, including drug trafficking, people-smuggling, human trafficking, terrorism and identification of foreign fighters, which it passes to the national police and Europol.

In addition to search and rescue operations, boats and aircraft deployed by Frontex in operation Triton last year contributed to the arrest of 588 suspected people smugglers and helped Italy seize 20.7 tonnes of drugs and 150 000 smuggled cigarettes. They also contributed to the detection of maritime pollution and illegal fishing.