Italy - More Migrants Rescued at Sea - NYTimes.com The Italian Navy has rescued more than 1,000 migrants from boats trying to reach Europe in the past two days, Italian authorities said Friday. After saving 233 migrants, mainly from Pakistan and African countries, in rough seas south of Sicily, naval vessels in a separate operation picked up 823 migrants from four overcrowded boats in the same area. The migrants were mainly from Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq and Pakistan. After an October shipwreck in which 366 Eritrean migrants drowned off the Italian island of Lampedusa, Italy stepped up its efforts to monitor the Mediterranean Sea with ships, helicopters and drones.