In this photo released by the Italian Navy on April 9, 2014, Italian Navy's dingies approach a boat carrying migrants along the Mediterranean sea, off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa
Italy Rescues 4,000 Migrants from Mediterranean Sea
Italy says it has rescued 4,000 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea in the past two days.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told Italian state radio Wednesday that migrant rescues and landings have been "non-stop" and that the migrant emergency is getting worse.
He is demanding the European Union do more to help police Mediterranean waters, saying tens of millions of dollars have failed to solve the problem.
This handout picture released on April 8, 2014 by The Marina Militare shows rescuers of the Italian Navy helping refugees to climb on their boat near the Italian port of Pozzallo, south of Sicily.
Italy is a main gateway to Europe for African migrants seeking to escape war, poverty and political turmoil.
The country began a permanent sea rescue operation late last year, after more than 400 migrants died in two shipwrecks off Italian shores.
Alfano condemned those who arrange the perilous trip across the sea from North Africa as "merchants of death."
He said about 15,000 migrants have arrived this year in Italy, and hundreds of thousands more are ready to board smuggling boats in Libya.
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