Dozens of migrants are rescued off Italian island after packed boat sinks - days after favourite to become country's next PM called for navy to blockade Libya to prevent Med crossings.
Forty migrants have been rescued off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa after attempting to cross the Mediterranean on an overloaded wooden boat.
Chaotic images emerged this morning of the migrants from Eritrea and Sudan fighting to stay afloat after they tumbled into the sea when the strained craft began to take on water.
Their fortuitous rescue at the hands of Spanish NGO Open Arms and the Italian coastguard earlier today comes amid dozens of attempted crossings as people smugglers in Africa continue to launch as many ships as possible amid a spell of good weather.
In 2021, 123,300 individual migrant crossings were registered across the Mediterranean according to the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) as people flee nations including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya for the promise of a better life in Europe.
But more than 3000 drowned after their vessels sank, the UNHCR said, and many who survive are subject to brutal treatment and abuse at the hands of people smugglers en-route to the northern shores of Africa.
It comes as the frontrunner to become the next Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, last weekend called on the navy to blockade the north of Africa in an attempt to stem the flow of migrants entering southern Italy.
The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party said the navy should screen all migrants attempting to cast off from African shores and turn back any who cannot prove they are genuine refugees.
The aim of many migrants who attempt the perilous crossing is to reach the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa.
Located south of Sicily, the island is one of the southernmost points of Europe which has a dedicated migrant centre designed to provide temporary accommodation.
But many of the Europe-bound migrants are denied asylum because they fled poverty and not persecution or war, and the Lampedusa centre is hundreds of people beyond its capacity due to the sheer number of summer crossings.
In 2021 alone, around 67,500 refugees and migrants arrived in the Italy, with around half on Lampedusa due to its proximity to Libya and Tunisia.
Meloni, 45, has promised to take a hard stance on the crossings should she be elected to replace outgoing PM Mario Draghi this September
Under her proposed plan, the Italian navy would blockade the Mediterranean and would ensure all migrants who attempt to leave are held in detention centres in Africa rather than Italy.
Only migrants who are able to prove they are fleeing war and seeking asylum would be granted passage to Italy - the others turned back.