21 March 2014 – An unprecedented 4,457 migrants and asylum seekers have reached Sicily in the past three days. On Wednesday 2,307 migrants landed on the island. A further 550 arrived on Thursday and today (21/3) another 1,600 are arriving today.  Ten more boats, believed to be carrying migrants departing from Libya, have also been spotted in the Channel of Sicily.  Indications are that inflows may increase in 2014 and that migrants – including refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of trafficking, and unaccompanied children – will continue to put their lives at risk while attempting to reach the EU via the western, central and eastern Mediterranean routes, thus lending greater urgency to the need for sustained attention and intensified cooperation.