Brussels 14 Jul (ANA) - The number of migrants arriving in Italy by boat in the first six months of 2017 was about 85,000, EU border agency Frontex has announced. Most of the migrants came on boats from Libya, with 24,800 alone coming in June. The figure is 21 per cent higher than it was in 2016, and went up 8 per cent between May to June. Most of the arrivals were from either Guinea and Nigeria, followed by people from Ivory Coast and Bangladesh. 

It comes as the Italian government, looking to stem the flow of migrants into the country, draws up a draft code of conduct for NGOs operating in the Mediterranean Sea. The NGOs have been blamed for making the migration crisis worse and playing into the hands of smugglers. According to the plan, if any group refuses to accept the terms, they risk being barred access to Italian ports, meaning they would have to divert to other countries to disembark any migrants. Among the proposed new rules will be a ban on making phone calls or firing flares that might signal to human traffickers that they could push their migrant boats out to sea. Frontex also stated that there were 30,700 illegal border crossings detected in June across the main four migration routes (Greece, Italy, Spain and the Balkans) into Europe.(ANA)

FA/ANA/14 July 2017----------