(see related) (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 29 - A senior UNHCR official has told the United Nations that Italy cannot be left alone to cope with a big rise in the number of migrants arriving on its shores.
    Ruven Menikdiwela, head of the UNHCR's New York office, told the Security Council that around 130,000 of the 186,000 people who have arrived by sea this year in southern Europe landed in Italy.
    She said that over 2,500 people had died or gone missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2023.
    Most of them were lost on the central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy.
    She said that the situation in Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island and the place migrant boats frequently head to, "is a cause for serious concern.
    "UNHCR is present and appreciates the efforts of the authorities to quickly decongest the island, but Italy cannot be left alone in responding to the needs of arrivals," Menikdiwela said.
    "UNHCR has repeatedly called for the establishment of a regionally agreed mechanism for the disembarkation and redistribution of migrants arriving by sea, in a spirit of shared responsibility and solidarity with frontline states".
    (ANSA).