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Brussels chiefs urgethe Chinese to do more to stop rubber boats falling into the hands of traffickersin the Med

THE EU has blamed China for fuelling the migrant crisis by failing to clamp down on sales of inflatable dinghies.

Brussels chiefs urged the Chinese to do more to stop rubber boats made there falling into the hands of people smugglers.

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The traffickers have packed migrants into hundreds of the boats for treacherous journeys across the Med.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU commissioner for migration, said: China can help and support the EU in its fight against migrant smugglers.

I requested the support and cooperation from the Chinese authorities in order to track down this business and dismantle it.

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EPA

Because what they produce is not serving the common good of the country.

The comments followed a meeting with Chinas public security minister Guo Shengkun.

They come as Brussels braces itself for another harrowing spike in numbers of migrants desperate to reach Europe as the weather improves.

More than 1.5million refugees and migrants have made their way to Europe since 2015.

So far this year, more than 1,000 migrants are thought to have died in waters between Libya and Italy.

Some 37,000 have been rescued and brought to Italy.

Last year Italian coastguards recovered more than a thousand boats packed with an average of 122 passengers.

Reuters

Separately Austria said it wanted to change the rules governing the EUs passport free Schengen zone to extend temporary customs controls due to expire later this year.

Brussels has told EU member states a six-month extension from May must be the final one.

Austria, Denmark, Germany and Sweden introduced the checks in 2015 in a desperate bid to tackle the migrant crisis.

Read more from the original source:
EU blames China for fuelling migrant crisis by failing to stop sales of inflatable DINGHIES to people smugglers - The Sun