Quelle: Your Middle East

Protect migrants in Mediterranean military crackdown, UN warns EU

Damon Wake

The United Nations refugee chief Tuesday warned the European Union about its planned military operation to target people-smugglers in the Mediterranean, saying migrants attempting the risky sea crossing must be protected.

Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, welcomed the initial intelligence-gathering phase of the new mission, which could begin as early as next week, but said rescuing migrants at sea should be the top priority. More than 100,000 people have made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, and some 1,800 have drowned trying. Many of them have been fleeing war or poverty in parts of Africa and the Middle East and paid huge sums to risk their lives in barely seaworthy boats for a chance of reaching Europe. EU leaders agreed at a summit in April, overshadowed by the sinking of a rickety migrant boat with the loss of 800 lives, to formulate a plan to tackle the crisis at source on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, including a military option to go after smugglers in Libya. On Monday EU foreign ministers approved the launch of a three-stage military strategy beginning with intelligence-gathering. Guterres, visiting Afghan refugee facilities in Pakistan, said the lives of those attempting the crossing must come first. „Our position has been very clear: first priority rescue at sea — lives need to be saved, nobody should be left to die in the Mediterranean,“ he said. The 28-nation EU scaled down its search and rescue operations last year, to the dismay of Italy, where the bulk of the migrants arrive. The new military mission, dubbed „EU NAVFOR Med“, will initially involve five warships, two submarines, three maritime patrol aircraft, drones and helicopters.