EU to launch military operations against migrant-smugglers in Libya
Source: The Guardian
Emergency meeting in Luxembourg also results in decision to boost maritime patrols in Mediterranean and broaden search-and-rescue mandate.
The European Union is to launch military operations against the networks of smugglers in Libya deemed culpable of sending thousands of people to their deaths in the Mediterranean.
An emergency meeting of EU interior and foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, held in response to the reported deaths of several hundred migrants in a packed fishing trawler off the Libyan coast at the weekend, also decided to bolster maritime patrols in the Mediterranean and give their modest naval mission a broader search-and-rescue mandate for saving lives.
Migrants trying to reach Greece are rescued by members of the Greek coastguard and locals just off the island of Rhodes. Photograph: Argiris Mantikos/AFP/Getty Images
A summit of EU leaders is to take place in Brussels on Thursday to hammer out the details of the measures hurriedly agreed on Monday. The 28 EU governments called for much closer cooperation with Libya’s neighbours, such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Niger, in an attempt to close down the migratory routes. But senior political figures and EU officials conceded this would be difficult and also voiced scepticism about the emphasis on targeting the traffickers.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/eu-launch-military-operations-libya-migrant-smugglers-mediterranean
Well, what could go wrong here, I wonder?
Let's hope they think this through and don't unleash something unintended.
