Italian navy and coast guard ships have rescued around 1500 migrants on board five boats in the Mediterranean in less than 24 hours.<br /><br /> Three of the migrants‘ boats had sent rescue requests via satellite phones after getting into difficulty. The other two were spotted by the Italian vessels while answering the rescue calls.<br /><br /> After being taken on board the Italian ships they were taken either to the island of Lampedusa or ports in Sicily.<br /><br /> About 170,000 migrants entered the European Union through Italy last year by way of the dangerous sea crossing organised by human traffickers. Most departed from Libya.<br />As estimated 3,000 have died in the attempt.
