A Royal Navy and EU mission to combat people-smuggling in the Mediterranean has caused more migrants to die at sea, a parliamentary report says.
The multimillion-pound tactic of using warships to destroy traffickers’ boats has led to migrants leaving the Libyan coast in less-seaworthy vessels such as dinghies rather than deterring the smugglers’ activities, a Lords committee concluded.
The peers claimed that Operation Sophia, the European Union mission to break up smuggling networks, which cost £6 million in the past year, was a failure and urged against the renewal of its mandate this month. More suitable vessels than high-end destroyers and frigates should be used to continue the task of searching for and rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, they said.
At least 4,581 people died
