Numbers down, but migrants still risk sea

ABOARD THE OPEN ARMS — While the number of Europe-bound migrants rescued on the main Mediterranean Sea route has dropped off dramatically this summer, hundreds are still risking their lives in hopes of reaching Italy — and still being plucked to safety.

The rescue vessel run by Spanish humanitarian group ProActiva Open Arms picked up more than 200 migrants on Wednesday from several flimsy dinghies that human smugglers had launched from Libya’s shores.

Among them was a 9-months’ pregnant woman from Ghana who ended up giving birth to a daughter aboard the Open Arms as it patrolled some 25 miles north of the Libyan coastal town of Al Khums.

European Union nations have expressed relief at the falling number of migrants rescued at sea this summer compared to a year earlier. Many of the migrants are fleeing poverty and not eligible for asylum.

As of Sept. 3, 99,846 migrants were rescued on the Libya-Italy sea route this year, compared to the 121,385 taken off smuggler’s boats during the same period of 2016, according to the United Nations migration agency.

Much of the fall-off happened in August, which is when Italy insisted that groups that wanted to bring rescue boats to Italian ports needed to adhere to strict rules that included not venturing into Libyan territorial waters. Several groups, citing threats from Libya’s coast guard, decided to suspend rescues.