Italy finds 19 boat migrants dead, saves over 3,500 since Friday: navy

Italy's maritime search and rescue service saved 3,500 migrants and found 19 corpses in the Mediterranean Sea since Friday as thousands attempted to cross to Europe by boat over the weekend, the Italian navy said. Calmer summer seas have led more people to make the perilous crossing this year from North Africa, where a breakdown of order in Libya has been exploited by human traffickers, pushing the number of arrivals into Italy since January past 100,000. The Mare Nostrum search and rescue mission began after a shipwreck near Italy's coast killed 366 people last October. The mission costs around 9 million euros ($11.92 million) a month and has sparked fierce debate in Italy, which slipped back into recession in the second quarter after years of stagnation. Read More http://ift.tt/1wnQppg