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Tusk calls for special summit on migratory pressures in Mediterranean

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday called for an extraordinary summit to be held, in which the European leaders will discuss how to address the migratory pressures in the Mediterranean.

"The situation in the Mediterranean is dramatic. It cannot continue like this. We cannot accept that hundreds of people die when trying to cross the sea to Europe," Tusk said in a statement, adding that "This is why I have decided to call an extraordinary European Council this Thursday."

"The objective of the summit is to discuss, at the highest level, what the Member States and the EU institutions can and must do to alleviate the situation now," he said.

He said he didn't expect any quick-fix solutions to the root causes of migration, adding that "but I do expect that the Commission and the European External Action Service will present options for immediate action."

The topics need to be addressed include how to stop the human traffickers, to step up combined efforts of rescuing, better help the EU Members States most affected and step up co-operation with the countries of origin and transit.

Only 28 migrants out of 700 seem to have survived by far after their boat capsized some 120 miles south of Lampedusa, Italy on Saturday night.

This disaster follows another similar tragedy which took place last week, during which more than 400 migrants drowned after their vessel sank off the Libyan coast. Endit