Ukraine in Arabic | The Italy to rescue thousands of migrants from Africa
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Italian authorities demand financial support from UN after saving migrants crossing from Africa by the sea.
On twitter, the Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Monday “Either the immigration issue needs to be taken over by Europe or Italy will start taking its own decisions #italycannotwait”
There has been no let-up in the record numbers risking the perilous crossing - over 100,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, close to double the number last year. Italy says it spends 9.5 million euros each month on air and sea patrols.
It has been urging EU border agency Frontex to take the strain but the EU says Frontex is short of personnel and funding.
Italian and EU officials are due to meet on Tuesday in Rome to discuss the issue.
Meanwhile the steady flow of desperate people continues as human traffickers take advantage of the chaos in Libya to launch more crossings.
Italy has long attracted seaborne migrants, but arrivals this year are already far above a previous record of just over 60,000 for all of 2011, when the Arab Spring uprisings fuelled migration.
