Apr 19, 2:57 PM EDT
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8:55 p.m. (1855 GMT, 2:55 p.m. EDT)
Germany's
foreign minister says stabilizing Libya would help prevent tragedies
like the capsizing of an overloaded migrant boat in the Mediterranean
where hundreds are feared dead.
Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said that it wasn't immediately helpful to focus on more
border enforcement and police - even if that is necessary.
Steinmeier said that "the first thing" to be done is "to try to get a government of national unity in Libya."
He
said in the transcript of an interview on German public television that
"only stable conditions there will keep Libya from being used by
migrant smugglers and smuggler organizations." Steinmeier said
international cooperation was needed to stop people traffickers.
Authorities say the boat capsized in Libyan waters.
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7:55 p.m. (1755 GMT, 1:55 p.m. EDT)
Britain's
foreign secretary says he will bring up the issue of migrant
trafficking at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday.
Philip
Hammond made the remarks on Sunday after a migrant boat carrying
hundreds of people capsized off Libya's coast. At least 24 people are
confirmed dead, and there are 28 survivors. One survivor said the boat
had 700 people aboard, but Italian officials said they couldn't confirm
that number.
Hammond says "we must target the
traffickers who are responsible for so many people dying at sea and
prevent their innocent victims from being tricked or forced into making
these perilous journeys."
He says he discussed
ideas to combat migrant trafficking with Group of Seven foreign
ministers last week, and he plans to do so again with EU counterparts in
Luxembourg on Monday.
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6:55 p.m. (1655 GMT, 12:55 p.m. EDT)
Italian
Premier Matteo Renzi says officials are "not in a position to confirm
or verify" that a migrant smugglers' boat that capsized off Libya's
coast had 700 people aboard, as one survivor told rescuers.
Renzi
told reporters in Rome on Sunday evening that so far there were 28
survivors and 24 dead. Renzi says the boat was headed to Malta.
The premier said 18 ships, including cargo ships, were helping in the search mission.
He
ruled out any naval blockade off Libya's coast, saying that would only
"wind up helping the smugglers" since military ships would be there to
rescue any migrants. He also said migrants can't be forced back to
Libya, because of the violent chaos there.
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6:35 p.m. (1635 GMT, 12:35 p.m. EDT)
Germany's
interior minister says fighting criminals that smuggle people to Europe
for money should be a "central point" in improved migration policy.
Thomas
de Maiziere made the statement Sunday after reports that hundreds of
people may have drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in Libyan
waters.
He said that "there are no simple answers" and that a Europe-wide response was called for.
He said that "we cannot and we will not tolerate these criminals sacrificing human lives on a large scale out of sheer greed."
Maiziere
said investigative efforts by police agency Europol had made a good
start. He called for better coordination among EU member countries as
well as the countries people are fleeing from and the countries they
transit.
Maiziere said that "every death is one too many."
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5:40 p.m. (1540 GMT, 11:40 a.m. EDT)
The
head of the United Nations' refugee agency says the latest deaths of
migrants at sea in the Mediterranean show the need for stronger rescue
capabilities.
U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement Sunday that the capsizing
of an overloaded boat in Libyan waters "confirms how urgent it is to
restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation."
He says that "otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea."
Guterres
says the agency has urged the European Union for an "urgent response"
and to deploy stronger search and rescue forces, and to increase legal
avenues for safe migration.
Last year, he said
219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean by sea and 3,500 died. This
year, 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have reached Europe so far.
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4:55 p.m. (1455 GMT, 10:55 a.m. EDT)
Spain's
prime minister says words aren't enough anymore and he urged the
European Union to take swift action after a boat believed to be crowded
with about 700 migrants capsized north of Libya overnight.
There
are 24 people confirmed dead, but there are fears that hundreds of
others are missing, in what could become the Mediterranean's deadliest
known migrant sea disaster.
`'Today, and this
is the umpteenth time, we hear of yet another human tragedy in the
Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoy told a political rally Sunday. "It's a daily drama. Three days ago
it was 400 people. Four days ago they were 10."
Rajoy
says a response has to come from Europe and that "words won't do
anymore." He says "we have to act, and as Europeans we are gambling with
our credibility if we aren't able to stop these dramatic situations
that are now happening on a daily basis."
Meanwhile:
Prime Minister David Cameron's
bombing of Libya has "directly caused" migrant disasters in the
Mediterranean Sea, UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said.
His comments came as hundreds of people are feared to have drowned after a boat carrying up to 700 migrants capsized.Mr Farage told the BBC he did not have a "problem" offering refugee status to "some Christians from those countries".
Deputy PM Nick Clegg said he had no regrets over Libya but said an urgent review by the EU was needed.
Speaking on BBC One's Sunday Politics show, Mr Farage said military action in 2011 had destabilised Libya and led to mass migration.
"The fanaticism of [former French president] Sarkozy and Cameron to bomb Libya - and what they've done is to completely destabilise Libya, to turn it into a country with much savagery, to turn it into a place where for Christians the situation is virtually impossible.
"We ought to be honest and admit we have directly caused this problem.
"There were no migrants coming across from Libya in these quantities before we bombed the country, got rid of [the then Libyan leader] Gaddafi and destabilised the situation."
He added: "I'm the one person that has said that I do think - especially for Christians in that part of the world - they now have almost nowhere to go.
"I have not got a problem with us offering refugee status to some Christians from those countries."
Speaking later on the campaign trail in Ash, Kent, Mr Farage said he believed the military action in Libya should be on Mr Cameron's conscience.
"After all, there are millions of people who blame Tony Blair for going to war on a lie and whilst Libya may be smaller scale, I think in foreign policy terms it's the biggest mistake he has made as prime minister," he added.
Mr Clegg said: 'I don't regret supporting intervention with other countries in stopping what would have been an absolute blood bath.
"Remember when Colonel Gaddafi was threatening to pretty well kill every single innocent man, woman and child in Benghazi and that was the trigger, which I think for humanitarian grounds quite rightly led to the response from ourselves and other members of the international community."
The Liberal Democrat leader added that this "large scale loss of life" in Libyan waters showed there was an urgent need for the European Union to "review arrangements because we just cannot on moral grounds have such large numbers of people dying in such regular intervals in the Mediterranean".
'Proud of action'
Conservative Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: 'However difficult the situation in Libya is today - and it is challenging - just think what could have happened if Gaddafi would have got his way."So I'm proud of the action that we took with our allies, it was the right thing to do."
When asked whether the UK should take some of the migrants, Mr Javid said: 'I don't think that's what's required."
The ultimate solution is to help create a more stable and secure Libya, he told Sky News' Murnaghan.
"We provide aid to Libya along with our partners, we provide military training for its government and help in other ways and that's the only long-term solution."
A major rescue operation is currently under way after the vessel capsized in Libyan waters south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
This year, at least 900 other migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean.
The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the latest sinking could amount to the largest loss of life during a migrant crossing to Europe.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain would offer the expertise of the National Crime Agency and the security services to help identify and target the traffickers.
Britain could also help by driving migration through its aid programme in the "key source countries", he said.
He is meeting his EU counterparts in Luxembourg on Monday for talks.
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