EU Asks UN for Help with Mediterranean Migrant Crisis
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
The European Union seeks U.N. authorization to deploy military force in the Mediterranean to stop migrant smugglers.
EU foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini has pleaded for UN help to dismantle criminal groups smuggling migrants into the European Union.
According to AFP, Mogherini addressed the UN Security Council as it prepares to endorse a controversial European Union plan aimed at stemming a record tide of refugees making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.
She said her first priority is to save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea. "No one is thinking of bombing,” Federica Mogherini said briskly to the UN Security Council on Monday, after concerns were expressed by some members that migrants might be harmed in an operation to destroy smugglers' boats.
The EU’s executive commission was to propose the plan as part of a strategy to help front-line countries Italy, Greece and Malta cope with thousands of migrants. France’s top security official said his country supports the plan.
The E.U. proposal would allow the bloc to deploy military force to seize and destroy smugglers’ ships before they take on their human cargo.
Amnesty International released a report Monday that described horrendous living conditions for migrants in Libya and concluded that military efforts would “effectively contribute to migrants and refugees being trapped in Libya and expose them to a risk of serious human rights abuses.”