Legal News
EC to help patrol Mediterranean Sea with “Frontex Plus” (28 August 2014)
Date: 28/08/2014
The European Commission (EC) has announced that it will be launching a sea rescue mission to help Italy cope with the large numbers of migrants who are trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
The mission will be similar to Italy’s Mare Nostrum rescue mission, which patrols the Mediterranean and rescues migrants who get into difficulty during the crossing.
The European border agency Frontex will manage the operation – to be called Frontex Plus – which will eventually replace Mare Nostrum by merging two other existing rescue missions.
Both Italy and Libya have called for the EU to do more to help with the increasing numbers of illegal immigrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
Many are fleeing war zones and persecution in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Last week the Italian coastguard rescued around 1,300 people from Eritrea and Somalia, after several small vessels sank off the coast of Libya. Around 200 migrants were lost at sea in the incident, however – many presumed drowned.
The EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom announced the launch of Frontex Plus on Wednesday (27/08/14).
She said that EU member states would have to contribute to the operation financially to enable it to take over from Mare Nostrum, given the limited resources that Frontex has.
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