The EU’s new policy to deal with the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean has come under fire.
Its Operation Triton is to support the Italian Navy’s Mare Nostrum programme which is winding down.
But Triton’s range, facilities and budget are all much smaller than that of the Italians.
While Mare Nostrum conducted regular search-and-rescue operations, Triton will patrol within 30 nautical miles of the Italian coast.
Although Triton will have access to seven vessels, four planes and one helicopter, the UN’s refugee agency believes the burden of rescue will fall on private merchant ships which may not choose to rescue migrants in peril on the sea.
Triton is run by the EU border agency Frontex which says it is not a search and rescue body.
Mare Nostrum may be scaling back, but not before saving some 150,000 people in the last year. Most had been seeking safety from the violent conflicts plaguing Africa and the Middle East.
Although there are 21 EU members which have pledge to participate in the Triton programme, the UK has shied away from helping, saying such operations could encourage more people to risk dangerous voyages to Europe.
Peter Sutherland, the UN special envoy for migration, condemned such arguments.
"I think that it is an utterly outrageous statement to make that it is a good thing not to save lives because it may put other people off trying to travel across the Mediterranean," he said.
The Italian navy has made it clear that, following international maritime law, it will still attend to an emergency or distress call from any boat, in any location.
