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Senior Royal Navy officers leading Britain's Mediterranean rescue mission off the Libyan coast have said that up to 500,000 refugees are collecting off Libya, waiting to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.

The government has sent HMS Bulwark to help with the search and rescue mission. Last week, around 6,000 refugees from Africa and the Middle East arrived on the shores of Italy and Greece.

HMS Bulwark has helped rescue around 4,000 refugees who would have potentially drowned at sea after fleeing Libya in unseaworthy vessels.

HMS Bulwark's captain, Nick Cooke-Priest, said:

“Indications are that there are from 450,000 to 500,000 migrants in Libya who are waiting at the border.”

HMV Bulwark has a crew of 350 of sailors and Royal Marines. The UK is working alongside the Italian Navy in Operation Weald to rescue migrants who have paid people trafficking gangs in Libya to get them to Europe. Many of the vessels used to ship migrants towards Italy and Greece are not fit for the job and many are unseaworthy.

The Royal Navy's senior officer commanding Operation Weald, Commodore Martin Connell, is on board HMS Bulwark to oversee the operation and said:

“This is just the most grim situation you could possibly find... most of these boats won't make it.

“If I could get my hands on some of these smuggling gangs – they have no regard for human life.”

In recent weeks, more migrants have also been arriving at the Port of Calais waiting to cross to the UK. There are currently around 3,000 migrants living in makeshift camps at Calais – many are now trying to climb into lorries and vans during daylight hours in a desperate attempt to reach the UK, BBC News reports.

It is not known what percentage of migrants are fleeing war zones and how many are economic migrants.

A recent BBC documentary revealed that many young men arriving in the EU from Eritrea are trying to avoid the open-ended draft into Eritrea’s army.
The UK government Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has visited HMS Bulwark. It is reported that he arrived on one of the ship's two Mark II Merlin helicopters, which the crew uses to patrol the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrant boats in difficulty.

Mr Fallon has asked for more EU member states to help with the migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean, as the UK, Greece and Italy are carrying out most of the rescue operations.

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