Italy rescues 480 migrants, recovers seven dead

Over 480 asylum seekers and refugees were rescued in the Mediterranean on Saturday as they attempted the perilous crossing from north Africa, with seven bodies also recovered, Italy's coastguard said on Sunday.

Some 484 migrants were plucked from dinghies in four operations involving coastguard boats, an Italian navy ship, the German NGO Sea Eye and the OHIO mercantile ship.

The bodies of seven men were recovered during the operations. More than 45,000 people have been rescued and brought to Italy so far this year, a 44 percent increase from the same period in 2016, according to Italy's interior ministry.

About 1,309 have died or are feared dead after trying to make the journey, the International Organization for Migration said.

Nigerians make up the largest group, followed by people from Bangladesh, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. The German and Italian interior ministers have called for an EU mission to be installed on the border between Libya and Niger to stem migrant crossings to Europe.

In a letter to the European Commission dated May 11, which AFP obtained a copy on Sunday, ministers Thomas de Maiziere and Marco Minniti said they "are convinced that we all must do more" to "prevent that hundreds of thousands of people once again risk their lives in Libya and on the Mediterranean Sea in the hands of smugglers."

Italy had already registered nearly 42,500 migrants coming by sea by mid-April this year and 97 percent of them arrived from Libya, the letter said.

It called for the setting up of "a EU Mission at the border between Libya and Niger as soon as possible."