A Kurdish group the Kurdistan National Liberation Front says another ship with about three hundred would-be migrants from the Kurdish regions of Turkey and Iraq has set off from Istanbul for western Europe.

Turkish maritime officials have not confirmed the report.

But the Turkish government has accused Kurdish separatist groups of running a quasi-slave-trade and of manipulating economic migrants for political goals.

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara says the European Union should join Turkey in taking measures against the smuggling of people.

Meanwhile Germany and Austria have called on Italy to tighten its border controls after more than twelve-hundred illegal immigrants reached the Italian coast in the past week.

In spite of the criticism, Italian officials have indicated that many Kurds among the new arrivals could be given political asylum.

Greece has also responded by stepping up security in the Aegean to intercept illegal migrants from Turkey, and France has said the exodus shows the need for the international community to examine the Kurdish question.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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