Italy is preparing to launch a mission to secure a part of the Mediterranean Sea where hundreds of migrants died while trying to cross it.
“An Italian military humanitarian mission with boats and planes will be launched Monday to secure as much as possible the part of the Mediterranean which has turned into a grave over the past days,” Prime Minister Enrico Letta said late Saturday.
The move came after two deadly accidents in October claimed the lives of more than 363 in the Strait of Sicily.
“We will spend a lot of money,” Letta said, adding, “We will triple the naval and air forces currently engaged in the Strait of Sicily.”
Italian Defense Minister Mario Mauro said that the country has deployed three navy ships and 410 marines, two night-vision planes, four helicopters, two custom agency ships and four coast guard patrol boats.
“We could deploy more vessels or bigger ones. We need a sizeable operation to avoid shipwrecks at sea,” Mauro said in an interview published Sunday with the Catholic daily Avvenire.
On Friday, Italian navy officials said that a boat, carrying around 200 migrants, overturned and sunk about 105 kilometers (65 miles) southeast off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
On October 3, another boat carrying some 500 migrants sank off the island, killing more than 300 people. Another 155 people survived the ordeal.
The deaths prompted calls for the European Union to intensify its patrols of the southern Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to prevent future tragedies.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso together with Italy™s prime minister visited Lampedusa on October 9, where Barroso was jeered by local residents who blamed EU and Italian politicians for the deaths.
Lampedusa is a primary entry point for tens of thousands of undocumented migrants sailing from Africa. The island is Italy’s southernmost territory and is located about midway between Sicily and Tunisia.
During the past 20 years, an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 migrants have perished during the dangerous crossing, as they travel on badly overcrowded fishing vessels or rubber boats.
IA/HN/AS
Copyright: Press TV