EU to target people smugglers in Mediterranean

ANKARA

Military action against people traffickers in the Mediterranean Sea was approved by EU member states Monday, according to a statement.

The proposed action could see Europe’s navies seize and destroy smugglers' vessels operating from Libya and came after the EU Naval Force Mediterranean completed the intelligence-gathering phase of the plan.

“This important transition will enable the EU naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean to conduct boarding, search, seizure and diversion on the high seas of vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking,” the council of ministers said in a statement following a meeting in Brussels.

The operation, for which no start date was set, can operate in international waters. To work in Libyan seas would require a UN Security Council resolution.

The EU naval force was launched in June in response to the escalating death toll among migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 432,000 refugees reached Europe by sea this year, double the levels for the whole of last year. More than 2,700 migrants have lost their lives during the journey.

Nearly 310,000 arrived in Greece from Turkey while more than 121,000 reached Italian shores.