Katie Hopkins has defended her hugely controversial article in which she described migrants as cockroaches even as news emerged that 700 people may have drowned overnight after a boat capsized.
Emergency services mounted a major search and rescue operation north of Libya after a ship containing hundreds of migrants trying to reach Italy overturned in the Mediterranean.
Italy's ANSA news agency said an estimated 700 people were aboard and only 28 people had been rescued.
At the same time as the tragedy unfolded, Hopkins was given a slot on LBC Radio to debate her position that gunships should be used to turn such boats back to their country of origin.
She said: "Why do we take one everyone else's problems? We can't afford to take on these problems. We need to push these boats back.
"And we should make a huge bonfire from these boats so they can't be used again. If we rescue boats we are perpetuating the problem."
Many callers were sympathetic to her views with one simply saying: "If the boat sinks then tough."
One who disagreed with Hopkins was shut down by the guest host. Hopkns said: "I'm going to shut you down there because it's boring me. Go back to reading your Guardian."
Katie Hopkins writing in Friday's Sun
Here's a reminder of what was in Hopkins' original post...
NO, I don’t care. Show me pictures of coffins, show me bodies floating in water, play violins and show me skinny people looking sad.
I still don’t care.
Also:
Make no mistake, these migrants are like cockroaches. They might look a bit “Bob Geldof’s Ethiopia circa 1984”, but they are built to survive a nuclear bomb. They are survivors.
And finally:
It’s time to get Australian. Bring on the gunships, force migrants back to their shores and burn the boats.
Barbara Molinario, spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency, said the Italian Coast Guard operation is continuing and the number of victims in the capsizing is not known.
"It's clear that a boat overturned and there are people missing, but on numbers (dead or alive) it's too soon to tell," she said.
The capsizing comes amid a wave of migrants trying to leave Libya for Italian shores. They seek to take advantage of calmer seas and warm weather to make the dangerous crossing on smugglers' boats.
So far, at least 900 have died trying this year as the overcrowded boats capsize.
If anywhere close to 700 people are confirmed to have died, this would be the deadliest toll from a single capsizing. Just last week, 400 people were presumed drowned when another boat capsized.
On Saturday, Pope Francis joined Italy in pressing the European Union to do more to help the country cope with the soaring numbers of arrivals, which include more than 10,000 in the week ending Saturday.
Italy says it will continue rescuing migrants but demands that the European Union increase assistance to shelter and rescue them. Italy says the EU's border control agency, Frontex, must take a greater role in coordinating rescue operations. Frontex technically is a border patrol operation, not responsible for search and rescue efforts.
Because most migrants want to reach family or other members of their community in northern Europe, Italian governments have pushed for those countries to do more, particularly by taking in the migrants while their requests for asylum or refugee status are examined.
The European Union's commissioner for migration, Dmitris Avramopoulos, says a new policy will be presented in May. He also has called for other EU members to provide more aid to Italy.
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Migrant Tragedy
APTOPIX Malta Europe Migrants(01 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
APTOPIX Malta Europe Migrants(02 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
APTOPIX Italy Migrants(03 of54)
Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(04 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(05 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers prepare disembark the bodies of dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(06 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(07 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(08 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(09 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(10 of54)
Italian Coast Guard officers disembark the body of a dead migrant off the ship Bruno Gregoretti, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(11 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(12 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(13 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
APTOPIX Italy Migrants(14 of54)
** ALTERNATE CROP OF ALT101 ** A rescuer cradles a child in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Malta Europe Migrants(15 of54)
The Italian Coast Guard with ship Bruno Gregoretti, carrying survivors and victims of a sea disaster in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Monday, April 20 2015. A smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. So far rescuers saved 28 people a recovered 24 bodies. (AP Photo/Lino Azzopardi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(16 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(17 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(18 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(19 of54)
A woman carries a child as she disembarks in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(20 of54)
Migrants are taken into a bus after disembarking in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(21 of54)
A woman carries a child as she disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(22 of54)
A rescuer, top, cradles a child in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(23 of54)
A migrant is helped disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(24 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(25 of54)
A woman carries a child as she disembarks in the Pozzallo harbor, Sicily, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(26 of54)
In this image from TV, migrants crowd at the rail aboard an Italian navy vessel as it cruises towards Italian port of Messina, Saturday April 18, 2015. UNHCR says Sunday, April 19, 2015, the search and recovery rescue operation is under way after a boat carrying migrants overturned north of Libya. (AP Photo/APTV) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(27 of54)
In this image taken from video made available by Guardia Costiera, an Italian coast Guard vessel during ongoing search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Italian island of Lampedusa, Sunday April 19, 2015, to locate migrants who are believed to be lost at sea. UNHCR says Sunday, the search and recovery rescue operation is under way after a boat carrying migrants is believed to have overturned north of Libya, with some 600 people still missing. (Guardia Costiera via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Migrants(28 of54)
Migrants are seated, surrounded by emergency relief workers aboard a vessel at the Italian port of Messina, Saturday April 18, 2015, as migrants prepare to be processed at the quayside. UNHCR says Sunday, April 19, 2015, the search and recovery rescue operation is under way after a boat carrying migrants overturned north of Libya. (AP Photo/AP TV) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Italy Europe Migrants(29 of54)
Migrants stand on the deck of the Italian Navy ship "Driade" prior to being disembarked in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
MALTA-ITALY-IMMIGRATION-REFUGEE(30 of54)
Survivors of an accident in which a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, sit on the deck of the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta on April 20, 2015. More than 700 people are feared dead following the capsize off Libya of a fishing boat that had been crammed with migrants trying to reach Europe. AFP PHOTO / MATTHEW MIRABELLI --- MALTA OUT (Photo credit should read Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MATTHEW MIRABELLI via Getty Images)
MALTA-ITALY-IMMIGRATION-REFUGEE(31 of54)
The body of a person who died after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta on April 20, 2015. More than 700 people are feared dead following the capsize off Libya of a fishing boat that had been crammed with migrants trying to reach Europe. AFP PHOTO / MATTHEW MIRABELLI --- MALTA OUT (Photo credit should read Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MATTHEW MIRABELLI via Getty Images)
MALTA-ITALY-IMMIGRATION-REFUGEE(32 of54)
Survivors of an accident in which a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, sit on the deck of the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta on April 20, 2015. More than 700 people are feared dead following the capsize off Libya of a fishing boat that had been crammed with migrants trying to reach Europe. AFP PHOTO / MATTHEW MIRABELLI --- MALTA OUT (Photo credit should read Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MATTHEW MIRABELLI via Getty Images)
MALTA-ITALY-IMMIGRATION-REFUGEE(33 of54)
Survivors of an accident in which a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, sit on the deck of the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta on April 20, 2015. More than 700 people are feared dead following the capsize off Libya of a fishing boat that had been crammed with migrants trying to reach Europe. AFP PHOTO / MATTHEW MIRABELLI --- MALTA OUT (Photo credit should read Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MATTHEW MIRABELLI via Getty Images)
MALTA-ITALY-IMMIGRATION-REFUGEE(34 of54)
The body of person who died after fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, is photographed and documented after being brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta on April 20, 2015. More than 700 people are feared dead following the capsize off Libya of a fishing boat that had been crammed with migrants trying to reach Europe. AFP PHOTO / MATTHEW MIRABELLI --- MALTA OUT (Photo credit should read Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MATTHEW MIRABELLI via Getty Images)
ITALY-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-SHIPWRECK(35 of54)
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (R) gives a press conference focused on the shipwreck of migrants last night off the Libyan coast, on April 19, 2015 in Rome. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Rome would be seeking the extraordinary meeting after up to 700 people were feared to have drowned when a boat carrying them towards Italy capsized off Libya. 'We are working to ensure this meeting can be held by the end of the week. It has to be a priority,' Renzi told a press conference. AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI (Photo credit should read TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:TIZIANA FABI via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(36 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(37 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(38 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(39 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Illegal migrants recued by coast guards are seen after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(40 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(41 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey(42 of54)
MUGLA, TURKEY - APRIL 19: Turkish coast guards rescue the migrants after a migrant boat sinks off southwestern Turkey, Mugla, Turkey on April 19, 2015. Thirty-one more people were rescued when the boat allegedly carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkeys southwestern Mugla province, Turkish officials have said. According to initial reports, the vessel was heading to Greeces Kos Island, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the coast of Turkey, when it capsized off Bodrum in Mugla. (Photo by Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Italy Migrants(43 of54)
A migrant is helped disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
Italy Migrants(44 of54)
A woman carries a child as she disembarks in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
Italy Migrants(45 of54)
Migrants wait to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
Italy Migrants(46 of54)
A woman carries a child as she disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy, early Monday, April 20, 2015. About 100 migrants, including 28 children, were rescued on Sunday by a merchant vessel in the Sicilian Strait while they were trying to cross. Another smuggler's boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya's coast on Saturday as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean's deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (credit:Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(47 of54)
Migrants sit on the deck of an Italian Coastal Guard boat as they wait to disembark at Palermo's harbor, Italy, after being rescued at sea, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Alessandro Fucarini) (credit:Alessandro Fucarini/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(48 of54)
Migrants stand on the deck of the Italian Navy ship "Driade" prior to being disembarked in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(49 of54)
Migrants receive first aid upon disembarking from Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(50 of54)
Migrants receive first aid upon disembarking from Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(51 of54)
Migrants receive first aid upon disembarking from Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(52 of54)
An Italian Navy officer gives instruction to migrants who are waiting to disembark from Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(53 of54)
Migrants stand on the deck of the Italian Navy ship "Driade" prior to being disembarked in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)
Italy Europe Migrants(54 of54)
A migrant holding a child receives first aid upon disembarking from Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. Italian ships have picked up some 10,000 people, many of them refugees of war and persecution, over the past week, an unprecedented number in such a short period. The influx is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (credit:Carmelo Imbesi/AP)