The number of migrants making their way to Italy by sea from North Africa has hit a record high.

More than 100,000 migrants have reached Italian shores this year.

Just in the last 24 hours, some 1,500 migrants were rescued by Italy, while two of them died.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano says he's "proud to be saving lives," and that without the government's help, the Mediterranean would be "a lake of death."

Alfano also reiterated Rome's call for the migrant issue not to be just an Italian one and that the European Union take more responsibility.

Mediterranean patrols began in October 2013 after some 366 people drowned when their boat capsized.

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