The European Commission is proposing that the EU launch Mediterranean-wide search and rescue patrols to intercept migrant boats.
The move by Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem was prompted by the deaths of at least 250 migrants after their boat sank off Lampedusa.
She was presenting the plan to EU ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
The alleged skipper of the Lampedusa boat, a Tunisian man, is being held in Sicily, suspected of manslaughter.
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