article_snippet.sent: The trauma of they ordeal is clear to see as the African migrants wait to be assess by medics after disembarking from the African migrants coastguard vessel .
article_snippet.sent: Joel Millman, from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said: ‘
article_snippet.sent: The death toll is the largest in the region since October 2013 and came as 42 boats, coming mainly from Libya and North Africa and carrying 5,110 migrants – including 317 unaccompanied children – were rescued in just 48 hours trying to make the hazardous crossing to Europe.
article_snippet.sent: The disaster has focused attention on the controversial decision to stop Italian naval patrols – which last year rescued 170,000 migrants – and replace 170,000 migrants with a smaller European policing and surveillance mission.
article_snippet.sent: ‘How many thousands must die this summer before Europe acts?
article_snippet.sent: Recent good weather in the Mediterranean and renewed violence in Libya have prompted a big increase in the numbers trying to reach Italy.
article_snippet.sent: Many who make it have told horrific stories of their barbaric exploitation by people smugglers, who their accuse of rape, murder and torture.
article_snippet.sent: Officials say the disaster has taken the number of migrants lost at sea in the area this year to 900, compared with 17 in the same period last year.
article_snippet.sent: An increasingly violent and chaotic situation in Libya has added to the problem, with unpoliced ports allowing people smugglers a free hand .
article_snippet.sent: Italian coastguards intercepted 42 boats on April 12 and 13, carrying 6,500 migrants attempting to make the hazardous crossing to Europe .
article_snippet.sent: Recent good weather has prompted a spike in the number of migrants attempting to reach Italy, many of a spike in the number of migrants attempting to reach Italy on overcrowded vessels .