The news of another migrant drama off the coast of Italy on February 26 has prompted familiar expressions of shock by EU leaders, as well as familiar calls for the EU to rethink its approach to migration and asylum. Dozens of people are thought to have died in the Mediterranean this year, not just near Italy, but off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia too.
The EU's border agency says irregular arrivals increased by 64 percent in 2022 on the previous year. Brussels is also concerned by the growing influx of people via land on what's known as the Western Balkans route.
