ROME (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday that her government had faced "atrocious" accusations but that her conscience was clear, after Rome's ability to rescue migrants at sea came under scrutiny following several shipwrecks.

"The government, myself, have been accused of atrocious things but my conscience is clear," Meloni said.

She was speaking about migration and cooperation with African countries at a book presentation in Rome about Pope Francis, on the 10th anniversary of Francis' election as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

On Sunday, thirty people went missing, feared drowned, after the boat they were traveling from Libya capsized in bad weather. Seventeen people were rescued and were brought ashore to Italy.

The tragedy follows a shipwreck on Feb. 26 near the southern region of Calabria, in which at least 79 people died after Italian police failed to intercept the migrants' boat in rough sea conditions.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, writing by Federico Maccioni, editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sandra Maler)