Leaders from Italy, the EU and UN boarded an Italian naval vessel off the coast of Sicily to see at first hand the Mediterranean operation to deal with African migrants.
For Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it was also a chance to smooth over differences, Euronews reported.
Last week UN experts castigated the European Union’s handling of the problem for over-emphasizing security and repression, after it announced that funding for the Triton border protection operation would be tripled.
On Monday another batch of nearly 270 migrants – mostly men – were brought to the Italian port of Taranto after being rescued from a boat off Libya.
Nearly 700 migrants from Senegal, Nigeria, Eritrea and Ethiopia are housed at the Zawya and Sorman camps in western Libya. Men and women are separated and there are complaints of inhumane treatment at the hands of the Libyan militias in charge.
