United Nations Official tells Europe - Find Consensus on Migrants

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The top U.N. refugee official says Europe has to agree on how to deal with migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.

After two days of talks with government officials in Italy, Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said Friday that European countries have to unite on addressing migrants arriving in Europe.

Grandi was very clear about the need to rescue anyone found at sea in the Mediterranean. He said migrants should be taken to the nearest safe port. Speaking in Rome, he praised the work of the Italian coast guard.

Italy recently closed its ports to nongovernmental organization vessels engaged in rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean. The Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has said he no longer will allow migrants to disembark at Italian ports, and he urged other European states to allow vessels carrying migrants into their ports. Salvini has repeatedly said Italy will not continue to assume the brunt of the migration issue.

Grandi said that although the flow of migrants has dropped this year, the lack of NGO vessels operating in the area has brought an increase in the number of migrant deaths at sea. He said he agreed with Italian government leaders on the need to provide more resources to end conflicts in the migrants' home countries and other root causes of the departures.