800 migrants recovered at sea. Some transited through Egypt

(B2) About 800 Migrants, recovered at sea, have arrived in Sicily these hours, rescued in several different operations involving Italian Coast Guard and Frontex vessels (Operation Triton).

Two ships spotted by a Coast Guard plane

The migrants crammed into two boats were drifting off the coast of Sicily. They were located by a Coast Guard aircraft from the Catania base. The ship of the Italian coast guard, furry (CP905), came to the aid of the first boat which contained 515 people. It directly took charge of 342 migrants (1), disembarked in Augusta. While 173 others were rescued by the Spanish Guardia Civil vessel Rio Segura, which is taking part in Operation Triton, and landed in Palermo.

Eight smugglers arrested

According to the evidence collected by the Italian police, and reported by the italian press, the migrants suffered during the crossing which lasted nearly 10 days. The fishing boat picking up its passengers as it travels, transhipped from small boats coming from the coast. Migrants were forced to pay smugglers to obtain water and food. Upon arrival, eight suspected smugglers — seven Egyptians and one Syrian — were arrested by the Guardia di Finanzia and imprisoned in Pagliarelli prison.

Second boat rescued

A second boat with 286 migrants on board was rescued by the Finnish military vessel Sea bear, with the help of three Coast Guard launches from Catania, Syracuse and Crotone. Among the migrants, a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy, was transferred immediately by helicopter.

The resumption of the Egyptian road?

Contrary to what had been stated at the start, in this ship which left Egypt, there were mainly Yemenis, Somalis, Eritreans, South Sudanese and Egyptians, according to the UNHCR, and few Syrians. This confirms in any case the resumption for several weeks of a migration route from Egypt. The Egyptian authorities who had closed the land route to Libya seem less attentive to the sea route.

A bad-tempered gesture from Cairo?

Or is it a certain will of Cairo to show a gesture of bad humor vis-à-vis Rome. Relations have been considerably strained in recent months between the two capitals after the unsolved murder of Giulio Regeni, an Italian student in Cairo. Murder which had provoked the recall to Rome of the Italian ambassador in Cairo.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)