BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The unabated arrivals of economic migrants by sea to Italy and the security risks these can carry are now the main problem faced by the European Union in its efforts to stem immigration, the head of the bloc's border agency said on Wednesday.
Some 154,000 migrants reached Italy in 2015 and the figure this year is already at above 144,000, according to the U.N. refugee agency data.
"In terms of irregular migration right now Italy is the member state number one," Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the bloc's joint border and coast guard, told reporters. Formerly known as Frontex, the agency recently had its mandate expanded and will now be called the European Border and Coast Guard.
"We have to be vigilant in the central Mediterranean area because there may also be security risks there, not just the migratory pressure," Leggeri said.
Some 90 percent of those attempting the crossing get on people smugglers' boats on the coast of Libya, though EU officials note the small number of arrivals from Egypt has increased in recent weeks.
The EU says the vast majority of those people are not eligible for asylum and will be sent back, though deportations often prove difficult in practice.
Leggeri said his agency will get more involved in the EU's efforts to step up returns to the poor African countries, as well as engage more in the places in Italy where migrants disembark.