Reply #54: N.Africa, not Europe, shoulders Libya crisis-agencies

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N.Africa, not Europe, shoulders Libya crisis-agencies
Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:12pm GMT

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, April 26 (Reuters) - Europe should help frontline Italy and Malta cope with people fleeing unrest in North Africa, but the Maghreb region itself has borne the brunt of Libya's crisis, aid agencies said on Tuesday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Rome on Tuesday looking to end a row over North African immigration and seeking a deal on tighter EU border controls with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi before taking joint proposals to EU partners.

Around 25,000 migrants, most from France's former colony Tunisia, have arrived in southern Italy so far this year, mainly aboard overcrowded boats landing on the island of Lampedusa.

But the vast majority of the 665,000 people, mainly migrant workers, who have fled Libya since February have crossed into Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan, aid agencies say. Only 5,182 of them have reached Italy and Malta.

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http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE73P0YW20110426?sp=true