Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools
Sections
You are here: Home Breaking news EU's new Mediterranean migrant rescue mission starts Saturday

EU's new Mediterranean migrant rescue mission starts Saturday

31 October 2014, 18:56 CET
— filed under: , , , ,
EU's new Mediterranean migrant rescue mission starts Saturday

Frontex search and rescue

(BRUSSELS) - The EU will launch a new search and rescue mission for migrants in the Mediterranean on Saturday, the European Commission said, after Italy confirmed it would end its "Mare Nostrum" operation.

The so-called "Triton" operation, led by the EU's border agency Frontex, involves four planes, a helicopter and 21 ships contributed by member states after an urgent appeal from Brussels, officials said on Friday.

EU states will also contribute 65 officers, they said.

Italy's Mare Nostrum operation rescued 150,000 migrants in the Mediterranean since its launch in October 2013 following two deadly shipwrecks that left 400 people dead, but Rome balked at the cost without outside help.

"Triton will be operational from Saturday thanks to the means placed at our disposal by member states," said Cecilia Malmstroem, the outgoing European Commissioner for immigration and home affairs.

Italy's interior minister Angelino Alfano announced the formal end of the Mare Nostrum mission earlier Friday in Rome, adding that the government had spent some 114 million euros ($142 million).

Twenty-one EU nations are contributing to the new Triton operation, which is named after a mythological Greek sea god.

Britain is one of the major EU states to decline, saying that such rescue missions create a "pull factor" that encourages more migrants to cross the Mediterranean.

A record 3,072 migrants have been killed trying to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The EU insisted that Triton would not relieve Italy of its responsibilities under international law to assist migrants where necessary, despite the end of the Mare Nostrum mission.

"Italy is obliged to mobilise resources to guard the external borders of the EU, to assist vessels in difficulty and to carry out rescue missions," a European source told AFP.

"Triton is a support tool, not a substitute for Italy's obligations. Rescued migrants will be unloaded in Italy where they will be registered and looked after. They can demand asylum and Italy will have to deal with the request."

Triton has a budget of 2.9 million euros a month to cover the costs incurred by member states for their contributions.

Italy's determination to shut down the costly Mare Nostrum operation has been criticised by aid agencies.

Operation Triton - guide

 


Document Actions