The Latest: Rescue ship pulls 48 people from boat off Libya

TUNIS, Tunisia — The Latest on migration into Europe (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

A humanitarian rescue ship has pulled some 48 people from an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya.

The group of migrants, which included five women and nine children, was spotted less than 24 hours after the Ocean Viking resumed its search operations off the coast of Libya, where migrants hoping to reach Europe often launch in boats too flimsy for the journey across the Mediterranean.

The boat was spotted with binoculars in the Central Mediterranean by SOS Mediterranee, which operates the Norwegian-flagged ship jointly with Doctors Without Borders.

The Ocean Viking previously disembarked 82 migrants in Lampedusa, a small Italian island relatively near the Libyan coast.

Italy’s new coalition government includes the centre-left Democrats, whose leaders have called for a more humane policy on rescue boats in the Mediterranean.

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12:30 p.m.

Tunisia’s national guard says at least two people are dead and 14 are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Tunisian coast.

National guard spokesman Houssameddine Jbabli told The Associated Press that authorities rescued nine people from the boat Tuesday and are searching for the others near Tunisia’s Mediterranean coastal city of Sfax.

He said Tunisian coast guard patrols have detained 192 people and stopped 10 boats trying to take migrants to Europe over the last two days. All those detained are Tunisian, except for three Iraqis.

The stepped-up efforts against illegal migration are coming as Tunisia mobilized more than 100,000 security agents around the country for Sunday’s presidential election.

Tunisia is both a source of migrants and a transit point for other African migrants seeking to reach Europe.

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9 a.m.

French police are evacuating at least 900 migrants from a gym and a nearby tent camp near the English Channel, citing concerns about security and hygiene.

A spokesman for the Nord region said the migrants being removed from Tuesday from the town of Grande Synthe include an unspecified number of children with their families. Local media say the migrants include many Kurds from Iraq.

A court this month ordered the migrants removed, to stem violence and human trafficking in the neighbourhood. The spokesman said the migrants are being taken to temporary shelters and allowed to apply for asylum.

Activist groups have warned that evacuations don’t stop migrants from coming to the area. Migrants fleeing poverty and conflict have long congregated in towns along the French coast in hopes of crossing the English Channel to Britain.

The Associated Press

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