CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — An Italian rescue patrol picked up nearly 100 migrants who reported being at sea for 12 days as U.N. Security Council members mulled a draft resolution authorizing an EU mission to seize the smugglers’ boats that are fueling the Mediterranean migrant crisis.
The developments came as hundreds of other migrants arrived in Italian ports after having been rescued in recent days from overcrowded dinghies and fishing boats. Most have been setting off from Libya, where human traffickers charging migrants around $1,000 apiece for the crossing are operating with near-impunity amid the country’s political chaos.