UNSC Approves EU Mission to Intercept and Seize Migrant Trafficker Vessels

The UN Security Council adopted on Friday a resolution approving the EU naval mission to intercept and seize migrant trafficker vessels in the Mediterranean.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) — The UK-drafted resolution provides greater legitimacy to the Operation Sophia, which was launched on Wednesday, allowing warships from several European states to board, search and seize vessels suspected of trafficking migrants in international waters from Libya to Europe.

The resolution calls on the member states to help Libya build "needed capacity," including border security, and to "prevent, investigate and prosecute acts of smuggling of migrants and human trafficking through its territory and in its territorial sea."

Operation Sophia brings together Italian, French, German, British and Spanish warships, including Italy’s Cavour C 550 aircraft carrier and France’s Courbet F 712 stealth frigate.

Three additional Belgian, British and Slovenian warships are expected to join the operation by late October.

In late June, the European Union launched the EUNAVFOR (European Union Naval Force) Med, which was later renamed Operation Sophia, to tackle human traffickers who smuggle migrants from North Africa to Europe.

The first phase focused on collecting information on human traffickers, using vessels and aircraft deployed in international waters, which ran from June to September. The second phase of the naval operation authorizes the boarding, search, seizure and diversion of ships found to be used for human trafficking.