3,000 migrants rescued off Libya

ROME - The Italian Coast Guardandothersrescuedsome 3,000 migrants from unseaworthy boats off the Libyan coast on Saturday, as the good weather pushes the numbers up, a participating NGO said.

In all, 35 rescue operations were launched during the day, with 15 of them still underway as night fell, the coast guard said.

German NGO Jugend Rettet, which took part in the rescue operations on Saturday, said 3,000 people had been plucked to safety during a particularly busy day due to the fine spring weather in the Mediterranean.

Jugend Rettet spokeswoman PaulineSchmidttoldAFPthata further 1,000 people remained to be rescued from inflatable dinghies and other craft, with the rescue ships reaching capacity.

Other, mainly non-governmental, boats were expected to arrive in the area to help the rescue operations, she said. “We have never had to deal with so many people at the same time.”

OnFriday,vesselsworkedflat out to rescue more than 2,000 people from flimsy dinghies.

Coast guard vessels and five privately run rescue boats plucked migrants from 16 overcrowded dinghies and three wooden vessels packed with people hoping to make a new life for themselves in Europe.

The European Union’s border control agency Frontex has accused donor-funded vessels of doing more harm than good by sailing off Libya and acting “like taxis”, and Italian prosecutors have suggested they may have links with traffickers — a charge they have fiercely denied.

Distressing images of African migrants being plucked from heaving seas or the coffinstrewn aftermath of major sinkings have become a regular feature of television news bulletins since the crisis began spiralling out of control four years ago.