About 2,000 migrants were rescued from rubber boats and wooden vessels in the Mediterranean between Friday and Saturday, the Italian coast guard said, releasing video of the rescue operations.

Nine rescue operations were carried out on Saturday to pull more than 600 migrants to safety, the coast guard said. The migrants were rescued from seven rubber boats and two small vessels.

Sabine, from Ivory Coast, cries after being rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, from a rubber boat sailing out of control in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya on Friday. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

Meanwhile, on Friday, more than 1,300 migrants were rescued in 13 operations, the coast guard said.

According to the coast guard the migrants were travelling on 10 rubber boats, two small wooden boats and one larger boat. No details of the migrants' origin, gender or age were released.

Two-year-old Oulai Esther, from Ivory Coast, is rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms. European Union leaders want to close off the illegal migration routes from Libya across the central Mediterranean, where thousands have died trying to reach the EU, the EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini says. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

The arrivals came as European leaders on Friday offered Libya money and other assistance to try to curb record migrant flows from the North African country. Aid groups criticised the move, saying such plans exposed migrants to further risks and abuses.

Last year, 363,000 people crossed the sea for European destinations, primarily Italy and Greece, according to the UN.

About 5,000 were either killed or disappeared during the journey.

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