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Roundup: EU to establish military operation to target traffickers in Mediterranean

Xinhua, May 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) defense and foreign affairs ministers agreed in a meeting on Monday to establish an EU military operation to stop people smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean.

The decision, called EU Navfor Med, was one element of the comprehensive EU response to the migration challenge, a statement published after the Council meeting said.

EU Navfor Med will be conducted in phases, including planning the operation based on the surveillance and assessment of human smuggling and trafficking networks. Then, work to search, seize and disrupt the assets of smugglers, based on international law and in partnership with Libyan authorities will take place.

The operational headquarters of EU Navfor Med will be in Rome and Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino has been appointed as Operation Commander.

The common costs of the operation are estimated at 11.82 million euros (13.36 million U.S. dollars) for a two-month startup phase plus an initial mandate of 12 months.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for the approval of the United Nations (UN) Security Council before the launch of the EU naval operation in June at the press conference, which would give the EU the legal basis for using military force against traffickers.

Mogherini asked the UN to work together with the EU in addressing Mediterranean migrant crisis during her visit in the UN last week.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the top priority in the migrant emergency in the Mediterranean was to save the migrants' lives. In an interview with Italian daily La Stampa in April, Ban declared that there is no military solution to the human tragedy taking place in the Mediterranean.

A record 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 in smugglers' boats and 3,500 died, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around half of these people were refugees fleeing war and persecution. Enditem