The bloc, overwhelmed by the arrivals and waging bitter internal battles on how respond, has increased its efforts to cut the number of people who make the perilous voyage. We have to be ready to face the same number,' said Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the EU's border agency Frontex.
'There was an increase by 17 percent last year so we had approximately 181,000 irregular border crossings coming from Libya. Some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached the bloc by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014-2016 and the main route now leads from the shores of the lawless Libya to Italy. Some 1.6 million refugees and migrants reached the bloc by crossing the Mediterranean in 2014-2016 and the main route now leads from the shores of the lawless Libya to ItalyīRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - The European Union should expect as many migrants crossing from Libya this year as last, when a record number disembarked in Italy, the head of the bloc's border agency said on Wednesday.
