text: Some are smiling, some waving, while others have the strain of their torturous journey etched on their faces. Whatever the emotions running through their young minds, these children are very much the lucky ones. They are among the latest group of migrants to have safely reached land after a desperate voyage across the Mediterranean that has claimed the lives of so many others. Of the 446 people on board the Italian rescue vessel, the navy said 59 of them were children, who were no doubt unaware just how perilous their boat trip could have been. Scroll down for video . Reaching the safety of dry land: Two migrant boys cling to each other as their rescue ship docks in the Sicilian port of Augusta after their smuggler boat was picked up off the coast of the Italian mainland . Apprehension and joy: Two children wait to disembark from the Italian Navy vessel  as they arrive in Sicily . Relief: A girl waves after being rescued from the Mediterranean with 445 migrants on their way to Europe . They were dropped off in the Sicilian port of Augusta today after their smuggler boat was picked up off the southern coast of the Italian mainland. Their parents had gambled everything to seek a new life in Europe and on this occasion they were lucky it didn't end in tragedy. The same couldn't be said for the 900 men, women and children feared dead after their boat capsized on Sunday in one of the biggest maritime disasters since the end of World War Two. It also follows deeply distressing images showing the body of a young migrant being brought ashore after he drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Rhodes on Monday. Greek police yesterday arrested two suspected people smugglers over the disaster which happened when a wooden boat ran aground on rocks, killing three people. The two Syrian men, aged 26 and 27, were among the 90 survivors of the tragedy, some of whom were filmed being pulled to safety after clinging to wreckage in rough waters. Safe: Parents carry their babies down the steps from the Italian rescue ship after arriving in a Sicilian harbour . Perilous journey: Their parents had gambled everything to seek a new life in Europe and on this occasion they were lucky it didn't end in tragedy . A woman (left) gives milk to her son as she arrives with others migrans at the Sicilian harbour of Augusta . In the wake of the tragedies, Italy has pressed the European Union to devise plans to stop the tide of migrants on smuggler boats in the Mediterranean. Italian defence minister Roberta Pinotti said refugee camps should be set up in countries bordering Libya and human traffickers must be targeted with military intervention. 'We know where the smugglers keep their boats, where they gather,' Ms Pinotti said. 'The plans for military intervention are there.' She was speaking a day before EU leaders hold an emergency summit in Brussels on the crisis. Ms Pinotti said she was cautiously hopeful that the EU summit would take tangible steps to deal with the migrant crisis. Hundreds of migrants have been arriving on Italian shores for days after being rescued at sea when their overloaded boats run into problems. 'We think it's the moment in which Europe decides, forcefully, to have an international police operation, which will undo this band of criminals,' Ms Pinotti said. Rescued migrants walk along the quayside after disembarking from the Italian Navy vessel Bettica in Sicily . Italy has pressed the EU to devise plans to stop the tide of migrants on smuggler boats in the Mediterranean . Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has urged the European Union to craft long-range, comprehensive policy on the migrants. He said one way would be to establish refugee camps in Niger, Sudan and elsewhere in Africa with UN assistance. Italy has saved some 200,000 migrant lives at sea since the start of 2014. But Italy's 'noble, generous reaction alone isn't enough', he said. 'We are asking Europe to be Europe, not just when it's time to devise a budget.' He said broad, long-term EU strategy, with wider sea patrols and a robust presence in southern Libya, would help combat '21st-century slave drivers' of migrants. Ms Pinotti said Italy would be ready to take the helm of any military intervention if asked and as long as it is carried out as an international mission, backed by the United Nations. 'We're ready to do our share. We're the closest country to Libya,' she said. Exodus: Of the 446 people on board the Italian rescue vessel, the navy said 59 of them were children . Displaced: Hundreds of migrants have been arriving on Italian shores for days after being rescued at sea . Growing problem: Italy has saved some 200,000 migrant lives at sea since the start of 2014 . Distressing: A man brings the body of a young migrant ashore after he drowned in a shipwreck off Rhodes . The defence minister said the flow of migrants is not about to stop, saying: '90 per cent are from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, from places where they are afraid of dying. 'We cannot stop them' from leaving their homelands. Mr Renzi and Ms Pinotti indicated that requests for asylum could be processed in refugee camps in African countries near Libya. These could include Tunisia, Niger and Sudan. Italy's defence minister said that it would then be up to all EU countries to take their share of migrants found eligible for refugee status or asylum. Because Italy is the first EU country the migrants set foot in, they stay in reception centres, sometimes for years, while their requests or appeals for asylum are processed. Migrants deemed ineligible for asylum are ordered to be expelled, but many slip away and head to northern Europe to reach relatives. Italian Premier Matteo Renzi delivers his speech on the eve of an EU emergency summit on migrants at the Lower Chamber in Rome .
target: Latest group of migrants rescued from Mediterranean includes 59 children .
  Picked up off Italian coast as families make desperate bid to reach Europe .
  Comes days after 900 men, women and children died in capsize disaster .