Rebellion in Italy as numbers surge
Italy's wealthy North yesterday vowed that it would refuse to accommodate any more migrants as thousands more were rescued in the Mediterranean by a multinational flotilla of ships.
As another frantic weekend of rescues unfolded, at least 4,000 people were plucked to safety from packed fishing boats and rubber dinghies off Libya.
Mass drownings in the Mediterranean have claimed nearly 1,800 lives so far this year.
All of those rescued will be deposited at ports on Sicily or elsewhere in southern Italy in the coming days, lifting this year's total of new arrivals on Italian soil to over 50,000.
The latest batch sent the migration crisis back to the top of the political agenda with three big northern regions vowing to defy the centre-left government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi by refusing to house any of the new arrivals.
The figure represents an increase of around 10 percent on the same period last year, which, after a summer surge, ended with an unprecedented total of 170,000 migrants arriving on Italian soil. The country's reception facilities are at breaking point with nearly 80,000 asylum seekers or recently arrived migrants currently accommodated across the country.
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