European operations to combat
illegal immigration in Italian waters have been allocated 7.1
million euros for the period May-September, sources close to the
European Union agency for external border security FRONTEX said
Thursday.
There are currently two Frontex operations underway in
Italy: Hermes and Aeneas, respectively covering the southern
Mediterranean between Italy and North Africa and the Adriatic
and Ionian seas.
So far this year these have been running thanks to 4.8
million euros carried forward from the November 2013 budget
after the agency received additional funds following boat
accidents off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa last October in
which over 350 migrants are known to have died.
The total Frontex budget for 2014 was 89.1 million euros,
the agency said.
Of this sum, 42.1 million was destined for operations, of
which just over half was for sea operations.
The Frontex-sponsored operations are in addition to Mare
Nostrum, a military and humanitarian operation launched by the
Italian navy and coast guard last autumn in the wake of the
Lampedusa disaster to spot and save migrants at sea.
On Tuesday Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told
parliament over 20,500 migrants had landed on the Italian coast
so far this year, as compared to 2,500 during the same period in
2013.
Speaking before a committee on the country's borders,
Alfano stressed that the number of incoming migrants was on pace
"to reach the record levels of 2011, when more than 62,000
people entered".
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