Italian Navy Rescues 18 Algerian Illegal Immigrants

Italian media reported that the Italian Coast Guard of Sardinia carried out a rescue operation for secret migrants on a traditional fishing boat from Annaba province (eastern Algeria), including two minors, as the boat was parked off the coast of Cagliari.

Italian Coast Guard, according to local media, reported on Wednesday, that the operations room received a statement by the planes that are deployed in the patrols of the European border protection agency (Frontex) in the Strait of Sardinia on the monitoring of a small boat that was sailing towards the Gulf of Cagliari, where the navy forces found a small boat with 18 people aboard. 

Italian navy transferred the migrants to the patrol boat and provided them with the necessary medical care before they were handed over to the police at the port of Cagliari, where they were taken to the Assemini reception center (Cagliari).

Coast Guard said the group included 18 men, all of whom were in good health, including two who are still minors. 

In a related context, Italian security sources said that about 30 immigrants, who are suspected of being Tunisians, landed last night on Agrigento beach in Sicily, adding that many immigrants who flock to the country’s islands are hiding in rural areas and get rid of their wet clothes to prevent being monitored.

Boats of illegal immigrants continue to flow on the Italian island of Sardinia, from the shores of the cities of Annaba and Taref (eastern Algeria), and even from North African countries such as Tunisia, despite the measures that are taken by the competent security services to thwart illegal immigration attempts, and information about the arrival of a new group of immigrants set out from Annaba on Tuesday night, while many families revealed the departure of their children on these flights, which increased since the start of the holy month of Ramadan.

Some of those who contacted Echorouk said that they live in constant anxiety and anticipation of any information about the fate of their children, such as the father from the Bouzaroura neighborhood in Al-Buni municipality, who said that he lost contact with his son who left during the first days of Ramadan, despite he called him when he arrived to Italy, as family lives in great anxiety and grief, especially that the son who was working with his father in the trade of vegetables and fruits, took 100.000 DZD from the house and left without telling anyone.