Rome-The European Union on Monday faced growing calls to expand migrant rescue operations at sea amid warnings that escalating violence in Libya would push more people to risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean.
Federico Soda, the top International Organisation for Migration (IOM) official in Italy, said this in a statement in Rome.
He stated that “migrants are being forced to travel on unseaworthy boats and in dire weather conditions.
“Given these circumstances, the relatively few, small ships that we (Italy and its European partners) are currently using, are insufficient to rescue a large number of people fleeing Libya.’’
Soda said majority of Europe-bound migrants from North Africa and the Middle East arrive on Italian shores from Libya.
In 2014, 142,000 of them followed that route and estimated that no fewer than 3,000 drowned along the way.
The EU border agency, Frontex, said more than 3,000 had been rescued since Friday, an unusually high number during the unfavourable winter season.
“On one occasion, an Italian coast guard vessel that was towing an empty migrant boat was attacked by four men armed with assault rifles.
“They took the boat back to Libya for reuse in future smuggling operations,’’ Frontex said.
IOM Director General, William Swing, said the situation in Libya was “unraveling.’’
Swing added that they must stand ready to assist thousands of extremely vulnerable people who needed their help.
In a separate move, Italian Foreign Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, wrote to senior EU officials to call on the bloc to multiply its efforts.
Gentiloni said migrant sea rescues carried out so far this year were up by 58.8 per cent compared with the same period of 2014.
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“It is more than ever necessary for the EU to respond in an adequate way, increasing solidarity and the sharing of responsibility at the European level,’’ he said.
In November, Frontex launched Triton, a sea patrol mission that only partially replaced Mare Nostrum, an Italy-only operation that had a bigger budget and a wider remit.
However, Rome authorities phased it out on the grounds that it was financially unsustainable.
Last week, the European Commission said it was up to EU national governments and the European Parliament to beef up funding for Frontex, currently making do with a 90-million-euro annual budget.
Migration is a sensitive topic in Europe, especially after January jihadist attacks in Paris, which led right-wing parties to call for the end of Europe’s border-free Schengen zone.
It stressed that terrorists could hide among sea migrants from Africa. (dpa/NAN)
