REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK -- The UN Security Council on Tuesday expressed concern over the recent proliferation of the smuggling of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, while deploring the recent migrant shipwreck that led to deaths of hundreds of migrants.

The council said in a statement that transnational organized crimes such as the smuggling of migrants have posed threat to regional stability and underlined the need to bring the perpetrators of the acts to justice.

Reports said some 800 migrants were feared to have died at sea when a packed boat capsized in international waters south of Italy 's Sicily Sunday.

The council urged all member states to cooperate with international and regional organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in addressing illicit migration flows and dismantling smuggling networks in the region.

According to IOM, the latest death toll of migrants in the Mediterranean for this year is set at 1,727, over 30 times than the number of the same period last year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday also urged the European Union to accelerate its support for addressing migrant issue in the Mediterranean, saying the region is fast becoming "a sea of misery" for thousands of migrants.

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