Amnesty calls on EU to focus on saving migrants
Amnesty International has called on European leaders to concentrate their efforts in using warships deployed in the Mediterranean Sea to save migrants.
"The implementation of this [military] operation should not distract assets from the essential task of patrolling the high seas with a view to coming to the rescue of people in distress," Amnesty said in a statement on Thursday.
In June, the EU launched the first phase of its military operation to curb human trafficking, dubbed EU NAVFOR Med, involving five warships, two submarines, three maritime patrol aircraft, drones and helicopters.
Amnesty warned that some of the warships in the migrant rescue operation may be utilized to take part in a new military operation by the EU to stop human traffickers from bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.
"People will continue to die and large-scale search and rescue operations remain necessary for so long as high numbers continue to take this dangerous route," it added.
Amnesty also welcomed the EU's April decision to triple the funding for its naval search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean to €120 million (USD130 million).
It said only one in 427 people have died on the dangerous crossing to Europe in May and June, compared to one in 16 recorded in the first four months of 2015.
"Any withdrawal of resources, or diversion of their use, will jeopardize the current success in saving lives," the statement added.
Almost 150,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, according to latest figures released by the United Nations International Maritime Organization.
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