More Than700 Migrants Rescued From Boats

TALIAN navy and coastguard vessels have rescued more than 700 migrants in waters between Sicily and North Africa as an immigration crisis that has cost hundreds of lives this month showed no signs of abating. Patrol boats conducted five operations and those rescued included dozens of women and children according to the authorities.

Several hundred were brought to an already overcrowded immigrant reception centre on the southern island of Lampedusa.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has pressed European Union leaders meeting in Brussels to increase aid to Mediterranean countries, including Italy, Greece and Malta, which have handled the brunt of the crisis.

Italy has increased patrols in the seas between Libya, Tunisia and Italy since more than 360 mainly Eritrean migrants drowned in early October when their boat capsized off Lampedusa. A second boat sank a week later, leaving an estimated 200 people missing.

The island's reception centre has struggled to deal with a deluge of migrants fleeing unrest in Syria, Egypt and other countries, which has swelled numbers making the crossing of the Mediterranean, often on rickety and ill-equipped boats. Over 32,000 migrants have made the journey to Italy by boat so far this year, the United Nations said.