AU calls for 'urgent action' to stop migration tragedies

The African Union has called for "urgent regional and global action" to stop the continuing loss of African lives in their desperate bid to reach European soil, Efe news agency reported on Wednesday.

"Human trafficking and irregular migration cannot be solved by one country alone. It requires urgent regional and global action," African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in an official statement.

Zuma extended her deepest condolences to the relatives of some 1,000 migrants, mostly Africans, who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea over the last two weeks, while she reiterated her call for the 54 African Union member states to enhance their efforts to solve the "tragedies" as well as prosecute those involved in human trafficking and smuggling.

At the same time, Zuma called for "more dialogue and cooperation" between the countries of migration origin, transit and destination, which needs to focus on preventative measures such as "poverty eradication and sustainable development".

Zuma also praised those involved "in saving migrants' lives", particularly the Italian government.

In the past two weeks, more than 1,000 migrants have died trying to reach Europe from the Mediterranean Sea, the spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy, Carlotta Sami, said.