Italian navy: More than 1,000 migrants rescued in Mediterranean

The Italian navy, in a 24 hour period ending Friday, rescued more than 1,000 migrants from boats trying to reach Europe, authorities said, as an immigration crisis that killed hundreds in the past year showed no signs of easing.

Navy helicopters spotted four overcrowded boats struggling to stay afloat south of Sicily on Thursday, and ships were sent to save them, the navy said in a release.

The 823 men, women and children aboard the four vessels were from countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Tunisia.

The navy rescued 233 migrants from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Zambia, Mali and Pakistan in a separate operation and took them to a port near Syracuse on Sicily's eastern coast.

"Considering the rough seas, the overcrowded boat and the precarious conditions, a situation of emergency was declared," the navy said in a statement.

After an October shipwreck in which 366 Eritrean migrants drowned off the Italian island of Lampedusa, Italy launched a special operation combining ships, helicopters and drones to monitor the Mediterranean Sea.

Italy has rescued more than 6,300 people in the Mediterranean since the shipwreck, Rear Admiral Francesco Sollitto told Italian news agency Adnkronos.

"Our mission is principally a humanitarian one, but it's also aimed at going after the people smugglers who are profiting from the migrants," Sollitto said. Hundreds of people die each year trying to reach Italy from North Africa.

Italy is a major gateway to Europe for many migrants seeking a better life, and sea arrivals to the country from Northern Africa more than tripled in 2013, fueled by refugees from Syria's civil war and strife in the Horn of Africa. Unless the migrants are eligible for asylum or have families or jobs in Europe, they risk expulsion by Italy.

Over the past two decades, Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean island of Malta have felt the brunt of the migrant flows and have urged a coordinated European Union response.

Wire services