100,000 migrants have crossed Mediterranean

ATHENS, Greece — More than 100,000 migrants — many fleeing the war in Syria — have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe so far this year, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday — and the arrivals in Greece have reached their highest level since the crisis began.

Citing national figures, the UNHCR said 54,000 people had traveled illegally to Italy and 48,000 to Greece so far in 2015, with a small fraction heading for Spain and Malta.

The numbers were announced as the European Union is struggling to persuade its 28 nations to adopt a quota system aimed at making the crossings less dangerous and easing the burden on Mediterranean countries.

In Italy, nearly 6,000 people were picked up over the weekend by a host of ships taking part in the EU-mandated Mediterranean rescue operation. Most were sub-Saharan African migrants who had set off from Libya.

The Italian coast guard and navy ships Tuesday brought hundreds of migrants to shore in Sicily after having rescued them over the last few days. Officers wearing surgical masks and coveralls directed the migrants to a processing tent set up at Pozzallo, a port in southern Sicily.

AP Television footage showed one officer dragging an immigrant out of a cabin and striking another man sitting on the deck of a rescue vessel.

According to the European Union’s border protection agency, Frontex, Syrians made up the largest group of people crossing illegally into the EU last year, followed by Afghans and Iraqis.