Frontex, Italy disagree on migrants

http://bit.ly/2CkcMRf The EU border agency Frontex and the Italian interior ministry appeared to disagree on Tuesday over the trend in migrant arrivals in Italy in early 2018. Frontex said that numbers were up in January compared to the previous month and comparable to the same month last year. "The number of migrants arriving in Italy via the Central Mediterranean route in January rose to more than 4,800, double the figure from the previous month, when smuggling activities were affected by fighting near the departure areas and poor weather," the agency said. "The monthly total was roughly in line with January of last year," the EU agency added. Conversely, the interior ministry said migrant arrivals had dropped by 50% over the same period in 2017 to 4,731 so far this year.