Perilous
Times
Libya unrest may unleash wave of 350,000 migrants: Italy
IANS, Feb 24, 2011, 10.11am IST
Turkish citizens wait for buses at the port after their arrival
from Libya at the Mediterranean port of Marmaris late February 23,
2011. (Reuters Photo)
ROME: The violent unrest in Libya may spark a wave of up to
350,000 immigrants toward European shores, warned Italian Foreign
Minister Franco Frattini, who asked the European Union for help.
"We ask that Europe do its duty," he said during a Wednesday
address to parliament in Rome. "We want Europe to do more managing
the flow of migrants because countries cannot be left alone."
Italy in May 2009 agreed to begin controversial joint patrols with
Libya, turning back thousands of illegal immigrants aboard boats
in the Mediterranean.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hinted that he may unilaterally
scrap cooperation, warning that he would allow thousands of
migrants to pass through his country on the way to Europe if the
EU sided with opponents of his embattled rule.
Italy says more than 5,000 Tunisians have arrived by boat to its
shores following the fall of that country's ruler in January amid
anti-government protests. Italy has asked the EU for 100 million
euros to help bring the situation under control.
An Italian fishing boat rescued 38 Tunisian migrants early
Wednesday in rough seas off the southern Italian island of
Lampedusa near Sicily.
Frattini dismissed Libya's official number of 300 dead during a
week of protests, putting the death toll at 1,000 - the same
figure used by reports citing eye-witnesses in the north African
country.
"We don't have exact numbers but the figure of 1,000 is likely,"
he said.