6,500 refugees have been rescued off the Libyan coast
Over 6,500 refugees have been rescued off the Libyan coast, in one of the biggest operations of its kind.
Meanwhile the L.E. James Joyce - the Irish navy vessel on a humanitarian mission in the Med, has rescued 165 migrants.
Most of those rescued are from Eritrea and Somalia and have been brought to safety in Italy.
CEO of Oxfam Ireland, Jim Clarken says Ireland needs to do its part in allowing those fleeing war and persecution a place to live: "Syria obviously has the headlines because of the awful war and what is happening in that country, but there are far more people seeking asylum from other countries as well with equally desperate background stories.
"We know how few people Ireland has accepted at this point and time despite a commitment a year ago now to bring 4,000."
