The Italian coast guard said Saturday it was engaged in rescue operations in the Mediterranean for more than 1,000 migrants on three boats, according to dpa. Its vessels intercepted two boats overnight, some 75 kilometres from the coast of Lampedusa island, Italy's southernmost point. They were carrying 94 and 580 migrants, respectively. The coast guard said a third boat was spotted with about 400 migrants aboard. The rescue operations were ongoing. The Italian Navy, which coordinates maritime patrols on the central Mediterranean, said separately that 1,251 migrants rescued in previous operations were being disembarked at the port of Augusta, in south-eastern Sicily. Migrant inflows to Italy have sharply increased this year. On Friday, officials said almost 47,000 people had arrived from North Africa by sea since January 1, a tenfold increase over the same period in 2013.
