EU leaders to restore rescue operations after migrant boat disaster

(Reuters) - European Union leaders who decided last year to halt the rescue of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean will reverse their decision on Thursday at a summit hastily convened after nearly 2,000 people died at sea.

Public outrage over the deaths peaked this week after up to 900 migrants died last Sunday when their boat sank on its way to Europe from Libya.

That has raised the death toll to around 1,800 so far this year, compared to fewer than 100 who died before the end of April last year, when a similar number attempted the journey.

Italy shut down the mission that saved the lives of more than 100,000 migrants last year because other EU countries refused to pay for it. It was replaced with a smaller EU scheme whose main focus was to patrol the bloc's borders.

The peak migration season of late spring and summer has barely begun, with international organizations estimating tens of thousands of African and Asian migrants likely to attempt the journey per month. Last year the death toll eventually reached 3,200.

The leaders are likely to agree in Brussels to double the cash and equipment available to two EU border patrol missions in the Mediterranean, a senior EU diplomat said.  Read More

EU leaders to restore rescue operations after migrant boat disaster | 

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