MADRID (Sputnik) — About 600 migrants from Africa have been rescued near the Spanish coast in the last two days, according to a sea rescue patrol.
On Friday and Saturday morning alone, 431 people in 41 boats were found near Cartagena, in the southeast of Spain, and nearly ten more boats were found throughout Saturday.
According to the UN Migration Agency (IOM), 17,687 people have arrived in Spain in the period between January 1 and November 15 of this year. In the period between January 1 and September 9 of last year, the number of arrivals in Spain was 5,445.
Europe is currently looking for ways to tackle a major migrant crisis as thousands of people are traveling across the Mediterranean Sea from conflict-torn countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia, to reach European shores.
Sixteen EU member states say they are ready to accept 34,000 refugees from North Africa and the Middle East after the UN accused Brussels of helping Libyan authorities intercept Europe-bound refugees, Press TV reported.
The offer to admit more refugees meets the European Commission's stated goal of letting in at least 50,000 refugees over the next two years in a bid to discourage them from making the risky Mediterranean crossing.
