31 Oct 2014 - IOM has paid tribute – on the occasion of the launch of the European Union (EU) Operation Triton in the Mediterranean – to the heroic work of Italy’s maritime forces in rescuing at sea thousands of migrants seeking safety in Europe.Under Italy’s “Mare Nostrum” operation, some 150,000 so-called “irregular” migrants, many of them from the most troubled nations in Africa and the Middle East, have arrived safely over the past 10 months in Europe, where today many are pursuing claims for asylum.  

“Boat arrivals to Europe are a result of the complex humanitarian crisis near Europe’s external borders – not of the humanitarian life-saving policies that try to assist those in need. At a time when countries in North Africa, the Middle East and East Africa are hosting millions of displaced persons, compared to a few hundred thousand in all of Europe, the European reaction should be balanced and compassionate,” he noted.