Italy: Coast Guard Rescues 300 Migrants from Stormy Seas

Migrants walk on the quay after disembarking in Roccella Jonica, Calabria region, southern Italy, early Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Migrants walk on the quay after disembarking in Roccella Jonica, Calabria region, southern Italy, early Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Italy: Coast Guard Rescues 300 Migrants from Stormy Seas

Migrants walk on the quay after disembarking in Roccella Jonica, Calabria region, southern Italy, early Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Migrants walk on the quay after disembarking in Roccella Jonica, Calabria region, southern Italy, early Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The Italian Coast Guard has rescued more than 300 young men and boys, most of them from Egypt, from a storm-battered fishing boat in rough seas off the southern “toe” of Italy’s mainland.

The rescue began Saturday night and ended early Sunday when the 303 migrants, soaked and shivering, stepped on to the port of Roccella Jonica in the Calabria region, The Associated Press reported.

While most migrants seeking to reach Italy in the central Mediterranean depart from Libya or Tunisia, authorities say an increasing number of traffickers' boats aiming for European shores are plying a route that begins in Turkey and ends at the southern tip of the Italian peninsula.

Those rescued from traffickers' unseaworthy rubber dinghies and wooden boats that depart from North Africa are usually taken to Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island, or to ports in Sicily. But those from Turkey are generally taken to Calabria or Puglia in the “heel” of the Italian mainland.

In Roccella Jonica, Red Cross volunteers early Sunday handed the migrants plastic clogs, blankets, food and protective face masks as part of COVID-19 precautions. Authorities recently set up a tent structure to serve as temporary housing but it's only supposed to hold up to 120 people.

As of Nov. 12, 57,833 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year.

In 2020, more than 31,000 arrived. In 2019, when anti-migrant leader Matteo Salvini used his post as interior minister to try to thwart charity boats from disembarking people they rescued at sea, just under 10,000 arrived.



Jailed Istanbul Mayor Appears in Court as Supporters Gather Outside His Prison

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: A person holds a placard with the picture of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: A person holds a placard with the picture of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Jailed Istanbul Mayor Appears in Court as Supporters Gather Outside His Prison

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: A person holds a placard with the picture of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: A person holds a placard with the picture of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor appeared in court Friday in one of multiple cases against him.

Hundreds of supporters gathered outside Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, where the hearing was taking place.

Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been held at Silivri since March 23. The case alleges that he threatened a public prosecutor and is one of six that predate his arrest last month, which led to nationwide protests.

Addressing the judge, Imamoglu said he was in court because he had won three elections against the person “who thinks he owns Istanbul,” a reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who launched his political career as the city’s mayor in the 1990s. Erdogan was heavily involved in backing his party’s candidates against Imamoglu.

The hearing was attended by Imamoglu’s wife and son, as well as lawmakers from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, Halk TV and other outlets reported. The case was adjourned to June 16.

The mayor, who is also the main opposition challenger to Erdogan’s 22-year rule at the next election, faces more than seven years in prison and a political ban for allegedly “targeting, threatening and insulting persons working in the fight against terrorism.”

The charge stems from comments he made on Jan. 20 in which he criticized Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akin Gurlek over criminal cases brought against other opposition figures.

Imamoglu was arrested on March 19 in relation to two investigations, one focusing on corruption in the Istanbul municipality and another alleging terrorism links in his party’s electoral pact with pro-Kurdish politicians.

Demonstrations calling for his release and an end to Türkiye’s democratic backsliding under Erdogan led to some 2,000 people being detained for attending protests banned by the authorities.

The mayor was officially nominated as the CHP presidential candidate while in custody. An election is due to be held in 2028 but may come sooner, and Imamoglu’s imprisonment has been widely viewed as politically motivated although the government insists Türkiye’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence.

Also Friday, two other courts in Istanbul were also holding hearings on cases against Imamoglu.

One is a bid-rigging case that dates back 10 years, when he was mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district. The other alleges illegal donation collection and stems from a video circulated in the runup to last year’s local elections showing CHP staff counting bundles of cash.