It will take decades to halt migration to Europe and states need to manage the influx meanwhile, Italy's foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Wednesday, citing the example of the United States and Mexico.
"Whoever claims that the migrant influx in the Mediterranean can be eliminated is spinning absurd falsehoods - it will require decades," Gentiloni told a business forum in Palermo.
"We need only take the example of Mexico. In the past two years the numbers of Mexicans returning home have risen compared with those entering the US, but this has taken 30 years," Gentiloni continued.
Gentiloni urged the EU to make migration "sustainable, legal and less dangerous for people coming from Africa".
The sea voyage from Libya to Italy has proved the deadliest migration route, accounting for over 4,100 of this year’s estimated 4,655 deaths, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
A total 168,542 migrants reached Italy by sea this year, which is set to be a record year for arrivals, according to figures issued by Italy's interior ministry on Monday.
