ROME: Italy will ask the European Union next week to take over responsibility for rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean in crowded boats from North Africa, a task that is costing its navy ¤9m ($12.25m) a month.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wants EU border agency Frontex to lead the mission, known as Mare Nostrum or “Our Sea”, which has rescued about 50,000 migrants this year. At a June 26-27 EU summit in Brussels, “Prime Minister Renzi will present a plan to transform Frontex to take on the duties of the Mare Nostrum mission”, Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in a radio interview yesterday.
Mare Nostrum began last October after 366 people fleeing African countries drowned when their boat capsized a mile from Sicily. The tragedy focused world attention on the desperate risks taken by many migrants, whose plight has been highlighted by human rights groups and Pope Francis.
Italy has repeatedly called for more EU involvement in recent months as the number of sea-borne migrants, most of them seeking asylum, has surged to levels last seen during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Reuters
