Italy is struggling to cope with its ‘massive influx’ of refugees landing on its shores.
In 2013, a total of 2,925 vessels delivered a cargo of some 43,000 people, including almost 4,000 children.
This is an increase of 325% over 2012.
"In 2013, Italy was subjected to an incessant and massive influx of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East," according to the deputy interior minister.
This year has already delivered the promise of more migrants seeking assistance.
The number of refugees arriving rose tenfold during January, comprising 2,156 migrants compared to 217 in January 2012.
Yesterday, the Italian navy rescued 1,123 people from eight inflatable boats. Four of the 47 women on board were pregnant.
The true number of migrants who died attempting the perilous crossing will never be known, but immigration charities estimate that between 17,000 and 20,000 have perished at sea in the last 20 years.
Last October, more than 366 Eritreans and later 200 Syrians drowned in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. This caused Italy to launch a military and humanitarian operation to deal with arrivals.
Several days ago, seven migrants out of a group of hundreds drowned in an attempt to get to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Their bodies washed up in Morocco.
The Moroccan coastguard said it had picked up 150 of these migrants, while the rest swam back to shore.
Italian authorities have to interview each migrant to ascertain if there are legitimate grounds for claiming political asylum, fleeing from persecution and facing harm if returned to their home countries.
Nearly three out of four asylum applications in EU states were rejected in 2012.
The boats are rickety, often unseaworthy, and always overcrowded. The journey is treacherous, survival uncertain and the chance of acceptance not as great as Europeans imagine. One can only imagine the desperation which drives people to risk their lives in the chance of a better one.
