235,000 migrants ready to head to Italy: UN

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by News Desk (16 September 2016) : Some 235,000 migrants in Libya are ready to make the dangerous Mediterra-nean crossing to Italy as soon as the opportunity arises, UN envoy libyan-migrants-ready-to-head-to-italyMartin Kobler said in an interview published Thursday.According to Italy's interior ministry, nearly 128,400 migrants have arrived via the Mediterranean since the start of the year which is a five percent jump over the same period in 2015. “We have on our lists 235,000 migrants who are just waiting for a good opportunity to depart for Italy, and they will do it,” Kobler told Italian daily La Stampa.

“Reinforcing security is the most important issue at the moment. If we have a strong and unified army… then the dangers of terrorism and human trafficking will cease,” he added. Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli is struggling to assert its authority and has been facing staunch resistance from a rival administration based in the country's remote east.

Fighting for control of the nation's oil assets has renewed fears of a civil war in Libya, which plunged into chaos after the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Libya's 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) of coastline have become a popular staging point for migrants. – See more at: http://dailyasianage.com/news/31001/235000-migrants-ready-to-head-to-italy-un#sthash.jO4R6I1h.dpuf