西班牙在地中海营救了208名移民

More than 200 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Spanish coastguard as they attempted to make the crossing from Africa to Spain, rescue services said on Thursday.

救援机构周四表示，西班牙海岸警卫队在地中海营救了200多名移民，当时他们正试图从非洲进入西班牙。

The migrants were found on Wednesday in three rafts in the Alboran Sea, between northeastern Morocco and southeastern Spain, and were then taken to Almeria and Malaga.

星期三，在摩洛哥东北部和西班牙东南部之间的阿尔伯兰海，三艘木筏中发现了这些移民，随后被带到阿尔梅里亚和马拉加。

The rescue comes at a time when Spain is preparing for the arrival of 15 migrants from an Italian port following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and a Spanish-registered private rescue boat.

此次救援行动正值西班牙准备迎接来自意大利港口的15名移民的到来之际。此前，意大利当局与一艘在西班牙注册的私人救援船之间发生了旷日持久的对峙。

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, some 18,018 migrants had arrived in Spain so far this year by mid-August. The figure represents a 39 percent decrease from the same period last year.

据西班牙内政部称，到今年8月中旬，已有约18018名移民抵达西班牙。这个数字比去年同期下降了39%。

The migration crisis continues to plague the Mediterranean Sea as thousands of migrants seek to reach Europe each year.

随着每年成千上万的移民试图到达欧洲，移民危机继续困扰着地中海。

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says that thousands of other refugees and migrants are also held in detention centres in Libya, after their attempts to reach Europe were thwarted.

联合国难民署(UNHCR)表示，在数千名其他难民和移民试图抵达欧洲的努力受阻后，他们也被关押在利比亚的拘留中心。

The arrivals in Europe have however dropped since 2017 after EU stated instituted stringent migration laws.

然而，自2017年欧盟宣布实施严格的移民法后，欧洲的移民人数有所下降。

UN data shows irregular sea arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa to EU dropped from over 1 million in 2015 to some 141,500 people last year while nearly 15,000 people are estimated to have died or gone missing in the perilous sea voyage.

联合国数据显示，从中东和北非到欧盟的不定期海上入境人数从2015年的100多万下降到去年的14.15万人，而据估计，有近1.5万人在这一危险的海上航行中死亡或失踪。