EU chief urges asylum reform after migrant deaths

BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for progress on a stalled reform of EU asylum rules after the deaths of about 60 migrants in Italy.

Von der Leyen tweeted on Sunday that the deaths, which occurred early on Sunday when an overloaded boat carrying about 120 migrants sank, were a tragedy that left her deeply saddened.

"We must redouble our efforts on the (European Union) Pact on Migration and Asylum and on the Action Plan on the Central Mediterranean," she said.

The commission referred media queries about the role of the EU's border agency Frontex in monitoring the area where the boat sank to Frontex, which is based in Warsaw.

Frontex, which has an 11 billion euro ($12 billion) budget over 2021-27, gets near real-time, high-resolution monitoring images from the EU's Copernicus satellite and airborne monitoring system. The agency runs Operation Themis, whose mission is to "support Italy with border control, surveillance, and search and rescue in the central Mediterranean".

Officials confirmed that 62 migrants died after their overloaded boat sank in stormy seas off Italy's southern Calabria region. The rescue center in the coastal city of Crotone said 14 victims were children, including a newborn, according to AGI news agency.

Italian Coast Guards said the overloaded vessel broke up in violent waves off Crotone, with one officer reporting that a suspected people smuggler had been arrested.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who came to power in October vowing to stem the flow of migrants reaching Italian shores, said, "The government is committed to preventing (migrant boat) departures and, with them, this type of tragedy."

"Yet another horrific shipwreck has claimed the lives of dozens of people, including children, this time off the coast of Italy," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter.

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella said, "A large number of these migrants came from Afghanistan and Iran."

Last week, Meloni's right-wing coalition government pushed through Parliament a law that forces migrant aid charities to perform only one lifesaving rescue mission at a time. Critics say the measure violates international law and, by cutting the number of rescue ships able to operate, will result in more people drowning in the central Mediterranean, considered the most dangerous crossing for people seeking asylum in Europe.

Agencies via Xinhua