Leaders boost support for Libya to halt exodus

BRUSSELS » European Union leaders are set Friday to boost their support for conflict-ravaged Libya as the number of people fleeing Africa from there for better lives in Europe continues to rise.

At a summit in Brussels, the leaders will commit to step up their backing for the Libyan coast guard to stop people setting out for international waters in unseaworthy boats.

The U.N.’s migration agency calculates that around 70,000 people have arrived in Italy from Libya so far this year, compared with around 56,000 for the same period last year. Almost 1,900 have died trying to make the perilous Mediterranean crossing in 2017.

“Loss of life and continuing migratory flows of primarily economic migrants on the Central Mediterranean route is a structural challenge and remains an issue of serious concern,” the leaders say in a draft of their final summit statement, seen by The Associated Press.