Italy rescues 1,123 migrants off Lampedusa

1,123 migrants from North Africa have been rescued by Italian navy from inflatable boats in the space of 24 hours.

The latest migrants were found in eight boats and a barge about 120 miles south-east of Lampedusa.

They included 47 women, four of them pregnant, and 50 children, all probably from sub-Saharan Africa, the navy said.

Meanwhile, at least seven migrants have drowned trying to reach the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

Local officials say the bodies of six men and a woman were found on a beach in neighboring Morocco. The dead migrants were among hundreds of people who tried to enter Spanish territory on Thursday.

The Moroccan coastguard said it had picked up 150 of the migrants, while the rest swam back to shore.

All of the victims were reportedly from sub-Saharan Africa.

Some 2,000 migrants landed on Italian shores last month, nearly 10 times the number recorded in January 2013.

Once in Italy, the migrants will be assessed to see if they have legitimate grounds for claiming asylum.

They have to satisfy the authorities that they are fleeing persecution and would face harm or even death if sent back to their country of origin.

Nearly three out of four asylum applications in EU states were rejected in 2012.