Lampedusa wreck: EU proposes migrant rescue mission


These migrants were among the survivors from the
wreck off Lampedusa on 4 October

The European Commission is proposing that the
EU launch a Mediterranean-wide search and
rescue mission to intercept migrant boats.
The move by Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia
Malmstroem was prompted by the Lampedusa migrant
boat tragedy, which killed more than 230 people.
She will present the plan to EU ministers in
Luxembourg on Tuesday.
The alleged skipper of the Lampedusa boat, a Tunisian
man, is being held in Sicily, suspected of manslaughter.
The Commission's plan calls for an operation by the
EU's Frontex border agency "from Cyprus to Spain", Ms
Malmstroem's spokesman told the BBC.
The search and rescue operation would "help better
tracking, identification and rescue of boats, especially
migrants' boats", spokesman Michele Cercone said.
"It could help prevent tragedies like the one in
Lampedusa", he explained.
Divers have recovered dozens more bodies from a boat
carrying African migrants that sank off the tiny Italian
island of Lampedusa on Thursday. The victims were
mostly from Eritrea and Somalia.
Khaled Bensalam, 35, is in custody in Agrigento, Sicily.
Investigators suspect him of being responsible for the
sinking and he could face multiple counts of
manslaughter, though no charges have been laid yet,
the BBC's Rome office was told.
Some witnesses say Mr Bensalam had a role in the fire
on board and others say they waited for hours in the
water before being picked up.
In Luxembourg Ms Malmstroem will seek political
support for the planned EU mission and the necessary
resources, because to implement it, "Frontex will need
additional resources".
"We will see how they [member states] react", Mr
Cercone added.
Frontex is currently helping Italy to intercept migrant
boats, but the two EU operations in the southern
Mediterranean have limited resources - a total of four
ships, two helicopters and two planes.
Bodies recovered
Tens of thousands of migrants attempt the perilous
crossing from North Africa to Sicily and other Italian
islands each year.
Accidents are common, but last week's shipwreck was
among the deadliest on record.
There were 155 survivors of the Lampedusa accident,
which happened about 1km (half a mile) offshore.
The operation to recover bodies from the hull was
abandoned for the night, but will resume on Tuesday.
The wreck is lying about 47m (155ft) below the
surface, which means the recovery divers can only stay
on the bottom for a short time.
On Monday 38 bodies were freed from the hull, which
divers had previously been unable to access. The official
death toll now stands at 232.
Divers "unpacked a wall of people", a navy officer said,
adding that corpses were "so entwined one with the
other" they were difficult to pull out.
Italy has again called for more assistance from the EU
for the member states in the Mediterranean which bear
the brunt of mass immigration. Malta and Greece have
made similar appeals previously.
EU states have for years been unable to reach
agreement on a common migration and asylum policy.
Key migrant routes to southern Europe

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