Austria calls on Europe to close Med route to asylum seekers

AUSTRIA has called for immediate international action to close the Mediterranean route to asylum seekers trying to reach Europe.

Wolfgang Sobotka, the Austrian interior minister, said closing off the crossing was “the only way to end the senseless and tragic dying”.

Almost 9,000 migrants were rescued from drowning over Easter after they tried to cross the sea in illequipped and overcrowded boats.

“A rescue in the open sea cannot be a ticket to Europe, because it gives organised traffickers every argument to convince people to flee for economic reasons,” Mr Sobotka said.

Austria led the successful international effort to close the Balkan route to asylum seekers last year.

The Mediterranean has since emerged as the route of choice. Thousands of asylum seekers put out to sea each week from the coast of Libya, seeking to reach the islands of Italy.

About 181,000 came to shore in Italy last year, and arrivals are up by a third so far this year. There are concerns that as weather improves, Europe will face a new wave of migrants.

Mr Sobotka called for a co-ordinated effort by European countries to cut off the Mediterranean to new arrivals.

Some 850 migrants are estimated to have died attempting the crossing from North Africa so far this year.

Frauke Petry, co-leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) , said yesterday that she would not lead the Right-wing, anti-immigration party’s campaign for a Sept 24 federal election.

Opinion polls show the AfD winning enough votes to enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time. But the AfD has lost about a third of its supporters as migrant arrivals to Germany have easeds.