Italy refuses to take in boat with 450 migrants, tells them to 'go to Malta'

A boat carrying 160 migrants sunk off the coast of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, killing 16 people, Turkish media reported on Wednesday, adding that 101 migrants had so far been rescued.

It said at least 30 people were missing from the sunken boat and that Turkish and Northern Cypriot coast guards, along with commercial boats in the area, were carrying out search and rescue operations. </s> A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

9 other migrants drown off of Turkey's coast

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> MADRID -- A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defence ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defence ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> ANKARA: Nineteen people died when a boat carrying 150 migrants sank off the coast of northern Cyprus and rescuers were searching for 25 other people, Turkey's coast guard said on Wednesday.

It said 103 migrants were rescued by boats and helicopters of the Turkish and northern Cypriot coast guards, helped by commercial boats in the area, from the sunken boat some 30 km (18 miles) off the north Cyprus coast.

One rescued person was in critical condition and has been brought to northern Cyprus by helicopter, the coast guard said. It did not say where the other rescued passengers had been taken.

A Panama-flagged commercial ship spotted the migrant boat some 25 nautical miles from Turkey's southern province of Antalya and alerted the coast guard on Wednesday morning, the statement said.

In 2015, Turkey became one of the main launch points for more than a million migrants taking the dangerous sea route to the European Union, many fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union sharply reduced the flow of refugees into the bloc, after thousands died crossing from Turkey to Greek islands a few miles offshore.

From January to May this year at least 26 migrants died trying to cross to Europe from Turkey, according to coast guard statistics.

Mediterranean arrivals to the bloc, including refugees making the longer and more perilous crossing from north Africa to Italy, stood at 172,301 in 2017, down from 362,753 in 2016 and 1,015,078 in 2015, according to data from the United Nations. </s> MADRID — A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

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At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

9 other migrants drown off of Turkey's coast

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> MADRID — A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defence ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defence ministry media officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The UN says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> The Latest: 35 migrants die as boat sinks off Tunisia

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on migration into and around Europe (all times local):

Tunisia's defense ministry says at least 35 migrants were killed after their boat sank off the country's coast.

The ministry said in a statement Sunday that the coast guard rescued 68 others, including Tunisians and seven foreigners, during a mission launched overnight and continuing.

The ministry says the boat was transporting about 180 migrants from Tunisia and other African countries.

It sank near Kerkennah island, on the east coast of Tunisia.

In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Nine migrants, including six children, have drowned in boat accident off Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

The boat capsized early Sunday morning near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya, according to the Turkish Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of nine victims and rescued four others. A fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel.

Turkey's state-run Anatolia News Agency reports there were 14-15 people on the vessel, according to the migrants, so authorities were still searching for one unaccounted for person. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 migrants reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 240 people but one person apparently drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

The service says Sunday that its agents spotted a body floating underwater after their rescue ship had saved 41 migrants from a sinking smugglers' boat.

In all, the service says it rescued the 240 people from 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from African shores to Spain between Saturday and Sunday.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> Nineteen people died when a boat carrying about 150 migrants sank off the coast of northern Cyprus, and rescuers were searching for 25 other people, Turkey’s coast guard said on Wednesday.

It said 103 migrants were rescued by boats and helicopters of the Turkish and northern Cypriot coast guards, helped by commercial boats in the area, from the sunken boat some 30 km (18 miles) off the north Cyprus coast.

One rescued person was in critical condition and has been brought to northern Cyprus by helicopter, the coast guard said.

Burhanettin Kocamaz, mayor of the southern Turkish province of Mersin, told broadcaster Haberturk that the rescued migrants and the bodies of those killed in the sunken boat were being brought to Mersin.

Kocamaz said there was no information about the origins of the migrants yet, adding authorities did not yet know where the migrant boat had come from.

Television footage of the passengers’ arrival showed several ambulances arriving at Mersin’s Tasucu harbour, from where they were taken to the Silifke district for treatment.

The coast guard said a Panama-flagged commercial ship spotted the migrant boat some 25 nautical miles from Turkey’s southern province of Antalya and alerted the coast guard on Wednesday morning.

In 2015, Turkey became one of the main launch points for more than a million migrants taking the dangerous sea route to the European Union, many fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union sharply reduced the flow of refugees into the bloc, after thousands died crossing from Turkey to Greek islands a few miles offshore.

From January to May this year at least 26 migrants died trying to cross to Europe from Turkey, according to coast guard statistics.

Mediterranean arrivals to the bloc, including refugees making the longer and more perilous crossing from North Africa to Italy, stood at 172,301 in 2017, down from 362,753 in 2016 and 1,015,078 in 2015, according to data from the United Nations.
A speedboat carrying 15 migrants sinks off the coast of Demre, Turkey. Nine people are killed and one person is reported missing.