European Parliament approves new rules of border surveillance system

The European Parliament on Thursday approved the operating rules of a new border surveillance system to help control illegal migration and prevent tragedies like the sinking of a migrant ship off Italy's Lampedusa island last week.

The so-called Eurosur system will help "prevent, detect and combat irregular migration, but also to save migrants' lives," the Parliament said in a statement.

"To prevent a tragedy like that off Lampedusa from happening again, rapid intervention is necessary," said Jan Mulder, a member of the Parliament, in a plenary debate here on Wednesday.

More than 300 people, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia, died last week when their boat caught fire and sank near Lampedusa.

According to the European Union's border management agency Frontex, more than 72,000 people illegally crossed the bloc's external borders last year.

The Eurosur system will enable member states to share real-time images and data on developments at all external borders.

About two thirds of the EU's 28 member states will start using the new system in December, while the rest will follow suit by the end of 2014, according to the Parliament.