EU’s anti-smuggler operation named after rescued baby

The EU said Monday its operation to tackle migrant smuggling in the Mediterranean would be renamed Sophia to honour a baby girl who was rescued off Libya last month.

Envoys in the European Union’s Political and Security Committee agreed to start the next phase of the mission on October 7 after approving rules of engagement, the European Council said in a statement.

Naval forces “will be able to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking on the high seas, in line with international law,” it said.

The operation, EUNAVFOR Med, was initiated in late June with the goal of identifying and seizing smugglers’ ships and rescuing migrants.

The mission comprises four ships, including an Italian aircraft carrier, and four planes. It is manned by 1,318 personnel from 22 European countries.

“The Political and Security Committee also agreed that EUNAVFOR Med should be renamed ‘Sophia’ after the name given to the baby born on the ship of the operation which rescued her mother on 22 August 2015 off the coast of Libya,” the statement added.

The change was proposed by the bloc’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, although some countries were opposed as the name did not sound sufficiently military, a European source said.

The baby was born on the German vessel Schleswig-Holstein after her Somalian parents were saved from a boat off Libya.

AFP