Some 2,700 migrants rescued at sea

July 16, 2015 5:51 AM

The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that Greece urgently needed help to cope with 1,000 migrants arriving each day.

A member of police takes a picture of a migrant after disembarking from tug boat Asso29 in the Sicilian harbour of Pozzallo, southern Italy, May 4, 2015. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello

Around 2,700 migrants were rescued from 13 boats near the coast of Libya on Wednesday, Italy's coastguard said.

A German navy vessel and a search and rescue ship deployed by medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres participated in the rescues along with the Italian navy and coastguard.

A spokeswoman for the Italian coastguard said the rescues had all been carried out in an area around 35 miles (55 km) from the coast of Libya.

An estimated 150,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea so far in 2015, most of them in Greece and Italy, the International Organization for Migration said. More than 1,900 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean, twice the toll during the same period last year, said spokesman Joel Millman.

The vast majority of the migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East depart from Libya, where human traffickers have taken advantage of a breakdown in order to build up a lucrative business.