This is 50% more than the number who took on the often deadly crossing in unseaworthy boats in the same period last year.

As European leaders met in Malta last Friday to talk about how to stop the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean, more than 1 300 of these desperate people were  rescued from the sea.

They were aboard 13 vessels saved by the Italian coastguard and the Italian and British navies.

It brought to 2 600 the number rescued in three days last week.

The EU leaders agreed to pay Libya, the migrants’ major launching point, to improve coastguard services and upgrade camps accommodating those who have reached there from various African troublespots.

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