http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/192261/
EU to back mission to destroy people smuggler boats in Mediterranean
May 18, 2015 - 09:51 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - EU foreign and defence ministers are expected to
approve a mission to destroy the boats used by people-smugglers
operating in Libya, BBC news reports.
At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers will also discuss the
mission's command-and-control structure and HQ.
It is part of the EU's response to the vast numbers of illegal
migrants from Africa and the Middle East crossing the Mediterranean
Sea to reach Europe.
More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in 2015. This
is a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014. Some 60,000 people
have already tried to make the perilous crossing this year, the UN
estimates.
Many are fleeing conflict or poverty in countries such as Syria,
Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.
The EU ministers are expected to fine-tune the 28-member bloc's
search-and-destroy operations.
Initially it will involve gathering intelligence on the activities of
the gangs, but it will also take action against smugglers' boats in
international waters, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels reports.
According to BBC, the third and most controversial phase of the
mission will be military operations conducted inside Libyan
territorial waters and on its coast - in areas controlled by a
potentially hostile Islamist militia. Libya, where many smugglers
operate, has objected to the EU proposals.
EU countries are seeking a UN Security Council resolution that will
give the mission legal backing.
Its aim, officials say, is to disrupt the business model that makes
people-smuggling across the Mediterranean such a lucrative trade. What
that means in practice is that the EU is willing to take considerable
risks to destroy boats and infrastructure used by smugglers who are
swamping Europe with huge numbers of migrants.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has cautioned against a military solution.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, are also warning that
military action could leave migrants trapped in Libya in desperate
conditions.
Photo: PA
Received on Mon May 18 2015 - 12:12:06 EDT