In a bid to stem the influx, the government is helping train Libyan coastguard intercept migrant boats in the Mediterranean and last year introduced a code of conduct for charity rescue ships. It has also sought more solidarity from other European nations amid reluctance to take in refugees.
By the end of last year, only 32,000 out of 120,000 refugees had been relocated from Italy and fellow front-line state Greece to other countries under mandatory quotas agreed at a European Union summit in 2015.
This year, 7,495 migrants crossed the Mediterranean from Italy and 359 drowned through April 15, a sharp drop from the 30,129 arrivals and 847 deaths over the same period last year, figures from the United Nations migration agency the International Organisation for Migration show.
