USA: Italian Red Cross chief urges humanitarian response to migrant crisis

The head of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, called for a humanitarian, rather than a military response the Mediterranean migrant crisis, in a press conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Wednesday. Rocca stated that “the dignity and the life of these people is a priority” and “If we bomb and let them die in Libya it is not a solution.” Rocca also urged that migrants should not be labelled as “illegal” because they are victims and not criminals. Since the start of 2015, 35,000 people have attempted to cross the Mediterranean from countries such as Libya. 1,800 have died in the process of the crossing. In 2014, the Italian navy and coastguard brought over 160,000 migrants to shore.