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EU interior ministers are to discuss how to deal with tens of thousands of migrants trying to enter Europe each year by crossing the Mediterranean, the BBC reports.

A key issue at the talks in Luxembourg is a plan to distribute asylum seekers more evenly across all 28 EU states.

The crisis has put a huge strain on Italian, Greek and Maltese resources.

But some northern and eastern European nations argue that migrants should not be forced to move to countries where they do not want to settle.

More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far this year - a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014. The majority had set sail aboard rickety, overcrowded boats from strife-torn Libya.

In recent weeks, naval vessels have rescued thousands of people at risk of drowning, but plans to resettle illegal migrants across Europe and break up the smuggling networks have yet to be agreed.