Up to 1 mln sea migrants could leave from Libya in 2015 (Frontex official)

Up to one million migrants could depart from the Libyan coast for Italy this year, the executive director of the European Union (EU) Frontex border patrol agency said in an interview with ANSA news agency on Friday.

"In 2015 we have to be ready to face a more difficult situation compared to last year," Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of the Warsaw-based agency, was quoted by ANSA as saying.

Flows of illegal migrants to Italy, seen as a privileged gate to Europe, have increased amid unrest in African and Middle Eastern countries in recent years. More than 218,000 crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 and about 3,500 others died at sea, according to the United Nations (UN) refugee agency UNHCR.

"According to different sources, we have been told that there are between 500,000 and one million migrants ready to depart from Libya," Leggeri said. Frontex is the coordinator of Triton, an operation that replaced Italy's full-scale search-and-rescue program Mare Nostrum in November.

The executive director added that Frontex is not sufficient to tackle this "enormous problem" alone.

"If Frontex is asked to carry out more missions, it needs the resources and staff as well as the commitment of EU member states to offer their equipments," he told ANSA.

Leggeri also noted that Italy has reinforced security following last month's episode of human traffickers threatening the Italian coastal guards who were commanded to leave them the boat after rescuing the migrants.

Regarding the possibility that militants of the Islamic State (IS) could hold the monopoly in human trafficking, Leggeri said there is no evidence that the militants are controlling the illegal traffic.

"However we have to be careful. We have proof that the migrants were forced by men armed with weapons to get on the boats. I cannot say they were terrorists, but there is concern among States. In fact this although has not happened so far could happen in the future," he elaborated.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni replied later on Friday that there was "no need to raise alarms and scaremongering."

"It is all about making more effort, both we Italians and Europeans, to deal with the phenomenon of migration. What we ask to Frontex is larger collaboration," he was quoted by ANSA as saying. 
  Xinhua  -   china.org.cn
7/3/15
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