3,300 migrants rescued after being spotted adrift in the Med… as drones are deployed in Calais to stop refugees storming the Channel Tunnel

MORE than 3,300 migrants have been rescued by Italian coastguard and navy ships after their boats went adrift in the Mediterranean.

Migrants on board twenty-five dinghies and a boat were stranded in the Med - which, according to the Italian navy, was caused by Libyan smugglers exploiting a spell of good weather and calm seas to line their pockets by launching boats towards Italian shores.

One adult was found dead while another four injured were flown by helicopter to a hospital

on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The surviving migrants were picked up in an area 35 miles (55 kilometres) north of the Libyan coastal town of Sabratha on Thursday.

Last week, thousands of migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya, including around 5,000 in one day, after a period of rough seas had prevented the smugglers from launching boats from North Africa.

Most of the recently rescued migrants are thought to have come from countries in West Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, and Guinea.

It is not yet known if they will be able to stay in Europe.

The massive rescue op came just days before Britain upped its security of the English Channel following last week's historic Brexit referendum.
Today security officers in Coquells, northern France, deployed two military drones at the Eurotunnel in a bid to stop migrants trying to reach Britain by using the Channel Tunnel.

More than 66,000 migrants, mostly from Africa, have arrived in Italy since the beginning of this year, according to figures compiled by the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR.

Shockingly the International Organisation for Migration said more than 3,700 migrants died in the Mediterranean last year.

The UNHCR says that Libya already has at least 100,000 migrants, who are packed into towns and cities along its western coast.

A year ago, Europe promised firm action on Libya after 800 migrants were drowned when their overcrowded boat sank off Italy.

Operation Sophia was created as a result, with a dozen naval craft patrolling off Libya’s coast.

The operation saw a dramatic increase in rescues, although some critics said smugglers were using this naval force as a “ferry service”.

Officials have impounded many boats used by smugglers, but that operation is undermined because the gangs import more craft from Europe.

Late last year Maltese customs found 20 semi-rigid boats aboard a ship heading for Libya, but no action was taken because they did not have the powers to seize them.

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