Some 2.000 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast from 14 rubber dinghies and one larger boat in salvage operations by the Italian navy and coastguard, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MsF) and an Irish navy vessel, the coastguard said. Another 636 migrants were rescued from two boats in Maltese waters, in operations involving Maltese and Italian vessels, it said.
 
No information about the nationalities of those save were published.
 
In 2016, more than 31.000 migrants and refugees have reached Italy by boat so far, slightly fewer than in the same period of 2015.
 
Humanitarian organizations say the sea route between Libya and Italy is now the main route for asylum seekers heading for Europe, after an EU deal on migrants with Turkey dramatically slowed the flow of people reaching Greece. Therefore, officials fear the numbers trying to make the crossing to southern Italy will increase as conditions improve in warmer weather.