Migrant landings lower in 2017, says Italy

Rome, Nov 30 (IANS/AKI) A total of 117,042 boat migrants arrived in Italy from January to November - a drop of almost one-third from the 173,008 who landed over the same period of 2016, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The sharpest fall in arrivals was from July to November - the months when warmer weather and calmer seas normally fuel a surge in Mediterranean crossings, it said.

Just 33,288 migrants reached Italy in July-November 2017, compared with 102,786 in the same period last year, the ministry figures showed.

The number of unaccompanied children also plunged to 14,579 from 25,846 in the same period of 2016, according the ministry figures.

Italy has been helping train Libyan coastguard who are intercepting migrant boats off the Libyan coast and returning the migrants to shore. The Italian government also introduced earlier this year a stringent code of conduct for charity rescue ships operating in the Mediterranean.

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