Tackle human trafficking at source, says Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi

The European Union must take a collective stand to tackle migrant trafficking at its source in African countries, Italy’s prime minister Matteo Renzi said ahead of an emergency summit of the bloc’s leaders yesterday to discuss the crisis.

His warning came as the head of the UN’s maritime agency predicted that the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean could surge to 500,000 this year, with deaths at sea reaching thousands if no action is taken against the people who traffic them.

Koji Sekimizu, secretary general of the International Maritime Organisation, called for a multinational effort to guarantee both the safety of the migrants and the targetting of those who smuggle them out for profit.