Italy has established a special fund for helping African countries close their borders more successfully in an attempt to prevent migrants from boarding often lethal vessels and travelling to Europe, reported the Foreign Minister of Italy.

The statement of Angelino Alfano about a fund to the amount of EUR 200 M comes two days before the summit meeting of EU leaders in Malta in order to discuss their plan how to stop African migrants from arriving to Europe, reported Reuters.

A record-high number of migrants – 180,000 – reached Italy by crossing the Mediterranean last year.

Most of them came from Libya where traffickers of people act with impunity.

According to humanitarian agencies, over 5,000 people died while trying to cross over in 2016.

At the moment, Libya, Tunisia and Niger are the three strategic partners of the fund, said Alfano.

But Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt and Ethiopia could also become partners in the future.