THREE sisters have tragically drowned after a “dangerously overcrowded” migrant boat heading to Italy overturned.
The bodies of the sisters, aged 9, 11 and 17, were found inside the boat after rescuers rushed to save the migrants coming from Libya.
AFPMigrants on board a smuggler’s boat sail past a boat ofthe French Maritime Gendarmerie in an attempt to cross the English Channel (stock picture)[/caption]
Migrant charity RESQSHIP said the boat was “dangerously overcrowded” and had been buffeted by waves up to 5ft before a rescue vessel arrived at the scene.
Among the 65 people rescued by the charity’s Nadir vessel were three pregnant women, children, and a seven-month-old baby.
One person fell overboard earlier in the crossing and remains missing, the charity added in a statement.
The Nadir intercepted the rubber boat, which had departed from Zuwara in Libya overnight on Friday, after being alerted by the hotline rescue operator Alarm Phone, the charity said.
Italy’s coastguard evacuated 14 people – medical cases and their relatives – on Saturday afternoon and took them to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
The Nadir arrived later in the day with the remaining survivors and the bodies of the three girls.
Meanwhile, Spain’s holiday islands have hit breaking point with near-daily arrivals of small-boat migrants, officials say.
Locals on Majorca, Ibiza, and Tenerife among others are at their “wits’ end” and have begun rebelling, according to island governments.
Migrants, mainly from Africa, have been washing up on the Balearics and the Canary Islands virtually every day – with 4,700 arriving on Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera this summer.
Just days ago, dozens of migrants landed at an Algarve beach – but were immediately detained and ordered to return.
A wooden boat, carrying 38 people including seven children, arrived on Friday evening near the town of Vila do Bispo, Portuguese authorities said.
Footage showed the migrants walking out of the boat and getting on the beach.
Beachgoers as well as locals watched in surprise as the dehydrated and hungry migrants reached the shore.
However, they were quickly rounded up by cops near Burgau, a part of the Algarve coast popular with tourists.
Footage showed the migrants walking out of the boat and getting on the beach.
Beachgoers as well as locals watched in surprise as the dehydrated and hungry migrants reached the shore.
However, they were quickly rounded up by cops near Burgau, a part of the Algarve coast popular with tourists.
It comes as small boat crossings in the UK have surged past 50,000 – one illegal migrant every 11 minutes – under Labour.
How Europe is cracking down on migrants with deportations in DAYS
AS 50,000 migrants have poured into Britain in small boats, European nations are cracking down and securing their own borders.
With public anger growing over soaring entries to their nations, more leaders are taking a harsher stance on migration – and dishing out swift deportations.
Portugal
On Friday, dozens of migrants landed at an Algarve beach – but were immediately detained.
A total of 38 people arrived on the small wooden boat, but they were quickly rounded up by cops.
And many have been hauled before court in a lightning crackdown.
GREECE
Greece’s Conservative-led government has pledged to bring in a “disincentive-based policy” to deter migrants.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris recently told Skai TV: “From now on, the government will follow a policy of drastically reducing benefits.”
He even pointed to the menus given to migrants at camps, which he called “hotel-like”.
The government even went as far as to suspend processing asylum applications from North Africa for three months amid a surge in arrivals.
Many of them had arrived on Crete, Greece’s largest island.
But the deputy mayor Eleni Zervoudaki told The Sun: “From the moral side it’s illegal and it’s not right, but from the other side I can understand the government is searching for a way to stop illegal immigration.”
The hairline stance taken by the Greek government has paid dividends – with numbers of arrivals nosediving since the move.
Germany
Under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany famously adopted an “open door” that saw tens of thousands of people arrive in the country.
But fast-forward to 2025, and Berlin is taking a much stricter stance on the matter.
New Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to crack down on illegal immigration upon entering office.
The open door order has now been revoked, undocumented asylum seekers are being pushed back, and far more cops deployed to the German border.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has confirmed that the measures will continue to remain in place.
Poland
Not content to simply police their border, Polish authorities have announced that fences will be built to prevent illegal migration.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk didn’t mince words earlier this year when he said: “Anyone who visits Poland, takes advantage of our hospitality and brutally violates the law will be deported from Poland.”
Poland has also carried out brutal immigration raids involving 26,000 police officers and 1,000 border guards.
Nearly 1,500 migrants were detained in the raids between February 13 and 14.
Karol Nawrocki won the Polish presidency this summer on a campaign that targeted refugees and migrants.
His key slogan was “Poland first, Poles first”.
Italy
Italy has taken an increasingly muscular approach to immigration over the past few years.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni claims Italy under her watch has become a “model to follow” for other nations.
The country even took the unprecedented step to ground a reconnaissance plane used by a German migrant rescue charity.
NGO Sea-Watch hit back at Italy over the move, calling it “a new escalation in the Italian government’s fight against civilian human rights observation in the Mediterranean”.
Italy is also trying to establish an offshore asylum processing system in Albania.
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