Somalis among 233 Migrants Rescued by

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Somalis among 233 Migrants Rescued by

Somalilandsun -The Italian navy last night rescued 233 mostly African migrants from a 10 metre (yard) boat off Lampedusa as the immigration crisis that killed hundreds in shipwrecks in 2013 showed no signs of letting up in the new year.

The navy picked them up in choppy sea and is ferrying them to a port near Syracuse on Sicily’s eastern coast, a statement said.

On board were men and women from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Zambia and Mali as well as from Pakistan, the navy said.

Malta was not involved in the rescue.

Sea arrivals to Italy from Northern Africa more than tripled in 2013, fuelled by refugees from Syria’s civil war and political strife in the Horn of Africa.

In October, 366 Eritreans drowned in a shipwreck near the shore of the Italian island of Lampedusa.