EU seeks UN backing to deal with migrant trafficking issue

New York, May 12 (IANS/AKI) European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has urged the United Nations to support the use of force by the bloc against criminal gangs smuggling migrants into southern Europe.

"We need to count on your support to save lives," she told a Security Council briefing here on Monday, stressing the growing influx of migrants also posed a security issue.

Libya, where many smugglers operate and where their boats set sail from, has objected to the EU proposals, meaning the EU must obtain UN approval to establish a clear legal basis for any military operation.

The oil-rich country plunged into turmoil after the 2011 ouster of strongman Muammar Gaddafi, with rival factions fighting for control.

It is not yet clear what form the military action may take, but diplomatic sources said current thinking involves EU navies taking control of unflagged boats in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea to stop trafficking.

More than 1,800 people are feared to have died trying to cross the Mediterranean aboard rickety smuggling boats so far this year -- a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.

Mogherini said the EU's first priority was to "save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea".

She reiterated that "no refugees or migrants intercepted at sea will be sent back against their will".

In the face of the mounting death toll, an EU summit last month agreed to triple funds to its Triton border control operation over the next two years and a provision to distribute the migrant burden more fairly across the bloc.

Mogherini outlined these proposals to the UN.

According to diplomatic sources, European Commission head Jean-Claude Junker may fix at 20,000 an initial EU-wide quota for refugees, despite resistance from Britain and other countries.

Juncker is to unveil a new migration policy plan on Wednesday that besides proposing a quota system for distributing asylum seekers among EU states would increase legal channels for migration to Europe.

Some 60,000 people have already tried to cross the Mediterranean this year, the UN estimates and some EU member states argue that taking in more people will only worsen the situation by attracting more migrants to undertake the perilous journey.

Many of the migrants are fleeing conflict or poverty in countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.

--IANS/AKI

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