Italian prosecutors ordered the arrests of two survivors of Sunday’s migrant boat disaster on suspicion of people trafficking.
Authorities late Monday identified the suspects as the vessel’s Tunisian captain and his Syrian first mate. They allege the duo was in command of the severely overcrowded boat when it capsized with as many as 900 people on board off the coast of Libya.
Authorities said the suspects were discovered among 27 survivors interviewed in the aftermath of what appears to be the Mediterranean’s deadliest migrant disaster.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose government recently approved tough new regulations on migrants seeking asylum, told reporters in Canberra Tuesday that Europe should do the same in order to prevent deaths at sea.
Australian policy
Australia’s new rules employ the military to turn boats full of asylum-seekers away before they reach Australian shores, either sending them back to the nation from which they came, or to camps in the Pacific Islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Abbott said the only way to stop the deaths was to stop the boats.
Earlier Monday, the head of the European Union called the 28 EU heads of state into emergency session to confront the unprecedented migrant crisis. That Brussels summit is set for Thursday.
A second migrant vessel crashed Monday near the Greek island of Rhodes, highlighting the unrelenting flow of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian refugees drawn to Europe by the twin promises of political stability and prosperity.
Two other rescue operations in the region were under way Monday as well.
European Council President Donald Tusk described the situation in the Mediterranean as “dramatic. It can not continue like this. We cannot accept that hundreds of people die when they try to cross the sea to Europe.”
The European Union has come under mounting criticism for failing to develop an adequate response to the crisis. Last year, it scrapped a Mediterranean search-and-rescue program over concerns from some members that the maritime operations were in fact encouraging more migrants from Africa and beyond to make the perilous voyage to Europe.
On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for “a common sense of European responsibility [for] what is happening in the Mediterranean, knowing that there is no easy solution, there is no magic solution” to the crisis.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi equated Mediterranean smuggling operations to the historic African slave trade, while his foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said Italy by itself can no longer bear the brunt of migrants arriving on its shores by the thousands.
“It is, I repeat, it is a European emergency,” Gentiloni said. “It is not a problem to help Italy. It is a problem to help Europe. You can not have a European emergency and an Italian answer.”
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