BBC News published this video item, entitled “Italy warns of new migrant surge with “tens of thousands” planning to cross from Libya – BBC News” – below is their description.
Italy is warning it needs more help to deal with a big increase in the number of migrants arriving there via boat from Libya. There are reports that tens of thousands of people are waiting to cross the Mediterranean.
The main gateway is the tiny island of Lampedusa, which lies between Sicily and the North African coast. More than 2,000 migrants have landed there in recent days on overcrowded boats run by people-smugglers.
The situation threatens to overwhelm the island’s limited facilities and the EU is calling on other member states to help.
Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting from Lampedusa by Mark Lowen.
BBC News YouTube Channel
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In This Story: Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest.
The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over three million of Libya’s seven million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.
Libya became independent as a kingdom in 1951. A military coup in 1969 overthrew King Idris I. Parts of Libya are currently split between rival Tobruk and Tripoli-based governments, as well as various tribal and Islamist militias.
Libya is a member of the United Nations (since 1955), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the OIC and OPEC. The country’s official religion is Islam, with 96.6% of the Libyan population being Sunni Muslims.
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