World leaders at the G-7 summit on Friday will meet in Sicily — a promised land for thousands of migrants making the desperate journey from North Africa to Europe.
This week, Italy received 4,513 migrants to the country. It was a 576% increase from the previous week, according to the International Organization for Migration. It could suggest that more migrants are attempting to cross the Mediterranean as the weather gets warmer — a pattern seen in previous years.
So far this year, Italy has received about 90% of the approximately 60,000 migrants who arrived to Europe by sea, according to the UN High Commisioner for Refugees data, updated this week.
A rescue crewmember from the Migrant Offshore Aid Station “Phoenix” vessel reaches out to pull a man into a rescue craft on May 24.
On Wednesday, a wooden boat carrying about 500 migrants was hit by a wave that caused passengers to rush to one side of the vessel, according to the Italian Coast Guard. This tipped about 200 people overboard into the Mediterranean. Thirty-four people died, said the Coast Guard.