Body bags lie in the harbour of
Lampedusa following the accident Photo:
REUTERS
The EU's executive will today push for extra resources to launch patrols
to
cope with the flood of refugees knocking at Europe's doors.
The EU's Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said as she went
into
talks with the 28-nation bloc's home affairs ministers that she would
propose "a big Frontex operation right across the Mediterranean from
Cyprus
to Spain for a big save and rescue operation."
Frontex is the agency set up by the European Union in 2004 to police the
bloc's borders against illegal migration.
But the Warsaw-based agency, which coordinates and develops border
management
and joint operations, has seen its budget fall over the past three
years and
relies on donations from member states for ships, helicopters and
other
equipment.
The shipwreck off Lampedusa last week in which more than 300 African
asylum-seekers are feared dead is expected to dominate Tuesday's talks
between the ministers.
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