Almost 1,000 migrants were rescued off the coast of Italy in operations that began Tuesday.
While about 1,000 people from Syria, Palestine, Libya, Tunisia, and sub-Saharan Africa were saved, 10 people died in the southern Mediterranean when one of the boats they were traveling in capsized.
Last year, 170,000 migrants and asylum-seekers were rescued at sea by Italian forces, and the
pace has quickened this year, The Associated Press reported.
Italy has appealed to the European Union for help with the rescues.
"Often the SOS call (arrives) when the migrants boats are outside the Italian rescue zone, 50 or 60 miles from the Libyan coast," Coast Guard commander Filippo Marini told the AP. "If there is no reaction or intervention for this country, we must rescue these people."
Those in the most recent rescue about 50 miles north of Libya were traveling in
rubber dinghies and boats, The Daily Mail reported. They included more than 30 children.
Mauro Casinghini, Head of Rescue for the Order of Malta in Italy, said he expects thousands more migrants will die this year, The Daily Mail said.
About 3,500 are estimated to have died crossing the Mediterranean in the past year.
The migrants are fleeing civil wars and oppressive regimes in the Middle East and Africa.
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