Harbour entrance, Malta

Since the end of March,  more than 1,200 migrants have gone missing, and probably died, in the attempt to cross the Mediterranean fleeing from the war in Libya,  the Missionary News Service (MISNA) reports.

Melissa Fleming, a UNHCR spokeswoman, told MISNA that 12,000 people have managed to reach Italian or Maltese shores in the same period.

During a press conference in Geneva,  Ms Fleming noted a few especially dramatic or exemplary cases.  She said three Ethiopians managed to survive the capsizing of a boat that left Libya on March 25 with 72 people on board.  NATO warships saw them twice but did not offer aid. A military helicopter dropped some drinking water and biscuits. After spending two weeks adrift, the Ethiopians managed to reach the Libyan shore again.

While Ms Fleming recounted this episode, there was more dramatic news coming from the Italian island of Lampedusa. On Saturday, around 1,000 migrants, in five boats with many children and women aboard, were rescued by the Italian coast guard.

On Friday coastguards on  Pantelleria, another Sicilian island told MISNA they had rescued people from three small boats.

Source: MISNA