More Than 700 Saved From Mediterranean This Weekend, Aid Group Says

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said Sunday.

The latest figures came as United Nations migration officials repeated their calls for a fairer mechanism to share the responsibility of caring for them, rather than leaving it to the Mediterranean countries. SOS Mediterranee said that its vessel, the Ocean Viking, had carried out six operations in international waters since Saturday.   In the last intervention, it rescued 106 people off the Maltese coast after being alerted by German aid group Sea Watch, said the Marseille-based organization.