Fewer migrants make crossing to Italy

rome - The number of refugees traveling fell by twenty percent from Africa to Italy. In the first quarter of 2016 there were nearly 29,000 migrants. In the first quarter of 2017, from January 1 to March 29, there were 23,000, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration.

The common refugee Libya-Italy route was one of the main topics of discussion at the EU summit in Malta in February. Europe wants to work more closely with the Libyan authorities to curb illegal migration. One of the plans is to better arm the Libyan coast guard personnel by ships, money and training. That way, Tripoli would better position the boats to intercept refugees already in the beginning and bring people back to Libya.