Amnesty International blames EU policies for rise in migrant deaths

July 6 (UPI) -- The activist group Amnesty International blamed European Union policies for the increasing death toll among migrants in a report Thursday.

Thousands of migrants attempt to leave North Africa for Italy and other arrival sites by sailing across the Mediterranean Sea in unreliable boats provided by smugglers; the summer months are the most active.

The report by the London-based organization said the EU relinquished most search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea to non-government organizations, while cooperating more with Libya's coast guard. The result has been an EU policy more focused on disrupting smugglers' practices than on rescuing migrants.

The report noted an increase in fatalities among migrants traveling on the Mediterranean Sea, from 0.89 percent of the total in the second half of 2015 to 2.7 percent of the total thus far in 2017.

There have been more than 2,000 fatalities in 2017, which the report attributes to the EU's failure to "deploy an adequately resourced and dedicated humanitarian operation near Libyan territorial waters. Instead it is focusing on strengthening the abilities of the Libyan coastguard to better prevent departures and perform interceptions."

The report also alleges collusion between smugglers and Libyan authorities and cites a U.N. report that Libyan coast guard members have been "directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats using firearms."

Amnesty International calls for an improvement in Libyan search and rescue procedures and the opening of additional safe routes to Europe.