UK drones may combat Mediterranean migrant trade
The British government is expected to provide drones and surveillance equipment to combat human trafficking in the Mediterranean, reports say.
The British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, and the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, are expected to tell their EU counterparts at a meeting in Brussels on Monday that Britain is prepared to take the lead in operations in the Mediterranean, the Guardian reported.
Defence sources said a Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, Lyme Bay, which can carry 200 marines and three Merlin helicopters, and a new class of armored offshore assault boats, could provide a significant element to a planned EU naval force in the Mediterranean.
However, the sources said such a force would need a UN Security Council resolution and that the government would need much more information about the proposed EU force and its rules of engagement before deploying ships and commandos.
Now Hafsa Kara-Mustapha, a political commentator, in London says, “I think the UK is fully responsible for Libya’s migrant crisis. The NATO attack back in 2011 was predicted to have the consequences that we know now. From the migrant crisis to the fact that Libya is today a failed state that has a lot of terrorist organizations including ISIL for instance.”
“So all these things we are seeing as a result coming out of Libya is very much a result of the NATO attack launched jointly both by Britain and France back in 2011.”
“There a proper way to address the situation and that would have to be a concerted effort with African nations looking to work with some form of authority coming from Libya looking to curb the issue,” Kara-Mustapha told Press TV’s UK Desk.
This is while EU ministers are set to approve plans for the force on Monday. The move to fight people-smugglers in the Mediterranean comes after a series of shipwrecks killed hundreds of migrants.
The operation, starting in June, will involve the deployment of warships and surveillance aircraft off the coast of Libya, which is at the centre of the humanitarian disaster.
The EU plan also includes the possible destruction of smugglers’ boats before they reach European shores.
MTM/GHN
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