E.U. fails to disrupt Libya 'people-smuggling'

An E.U. naval operation, which began in 2015 to reduce the influx of refugees through the central Mediterranean, has failed to eradicate people-smuggling from Libya, said a British parliamentary committee. Operation Sophia, which involved the destruction of wooden boats used by the smugglers, has prompted them to shift to rubber dinghies, thus subjecting the lives of migrants to a greater risk.

Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa brave perilous journey through the Mediterranean to escape human rights abuses in Libya, writes the BBC. Since the E.U.-Turkey migrant agreement came into play, the number of migrants reaching the Greek islands from Turkey has dropped while those traveling the Libya-Italy route has risen steadily.

In the report submitted by the House of Lords E.U. Committee, a number of factors were singled out as contributing to the mission’s failure, notes Sky News: Namely, an unstable government in Libya, and aweak, restricted intelligence apparatus too hindered any action against smugglers.

The report, which called on the E.U. to urgently devise a strategy for addressing the “root causes” of mass migration, cited lack of a formal invitation from Libya for not launching a military intervention in the country.