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Italian Navy rescue thousands of migrants

21 March 2014 Last updated at 21:51 GMT

The Italian navy says more than 4,000 migrants have been rescued from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily in the past four days.

On Thursday more than 230 people, who were packed onto a rubber dinghy, were picked up near the island of Lampedusa.

Our Rome Correspondent Alan Johnston reports.