Italy faces continuous arrivals of tens of thousands of people fleeing war and famine in Africa and the Middle East via unseaworthy boats run by human traffickers.

Most of the vessels leave from Libya, with Italy as the nearest European landfall on the so-called Central Mediterranean route.

In a bilateral meeting held with Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano prior to the conference, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian said "our action must relate to Libya first and foremost."

In a statement released by the French embassy in Rome after the bilateral meeting, Le Drian said solving the situation in Libya, where two governments are at odds with each other, is "our priority, Europe's priority, not just the priority of Italy and France."

A UNHCR study released Monday found that Libya is by far the preferred jumping off point for refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe, in spite of the fact that it is particularly unsafe for them.

"The foreign nationals going to Libya are part of mixed migration flows, meaning that people with different backgrounds and motivations travel together along the same routes," UNHCR wrote. "They include refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, unaccompanied minors, environmental migrants, victims of trafficking and stranded migrants."

At least 2,030 people have died or gone missing in the attempt to reach Europe so far this year, with the greatest number of fatalities occurring along the Central Mediterranean route through Libya, according to UNHCR.

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