Migrant Crisis: EU Naval Mission "Has Failed"

A report on the EU's naval mission to tackle people-smuggling and the migration crisis claims it has failed.

A House of Lords committee says it hasn't delivered on its key objective of deterring migration.

Operation Sophia was launched in 2015 in the wake of disasters in which hundreds of migrants drowned attempting to reach Europe.

Twenty-five EU member states, including the UK, joined the operation which was aimed at disrupting human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean.

The House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee has now pointed to figures showing detections of irregular migrants on the central Mediterranean route were at the highest yet in 2016 - when 181,436 people arrived in Europe by this route.

Baroness Verma, chair of the committee, said:

"People smuggling begins onshore, so a naval mission is the wrong tool for tackling this dangerous, inhumane and unscrupulous business... Operation Sophia has failed to meet the objective of its mandate. It should not be renewed."

Peers also noted that an unintended consequence of Operation Sophia's destruction of vessels has been that the smugglers have adapted, sending migrants to sea in unseaworthy vessels. They said this has led to an increase in deaths, with 2,150 in 2017 so far.

The committee did say search and rescue work should continue. Operation Sophia vessels have rescued more than 33,000 people since the start of the mission.

According to the committee's report getting to the root of the problem will mean a new focus on tackling people smuggling in source and transit countries, as well as support for sustainable economic development and good governance in these countries.