EU’s Mogherini urges UN to back migrant military options

business recorder ^ | Monday, 11 May 2015 19:12

[DeaconBenjamin]

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini will call on the UN Security Council Monday to approve military action against people smugglers as the bloc splits over a new migrant quota plan.

"I am ashamed that Europe only wakes up when it is confronted by the dead," Mogherini, the former Italian foreign minister, said recently.

EU leaders tasked Mogherini with drawing up a list of military options, including action "to capture and destroy the smugglers' vessels," on the key condition it should be in accordance with international law.

Normally that would require an agreement with the government concerned, but Libya is in chaos as rival factions fight for control of the oil-rich state, meaning the EU must obtain UN approval to establish a clear legal basis for any military operation.

But Mogherini faces a tough task. UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the EU's increased migrant efforts -- but cautioned that "there is no military solution to the tragedy in the Mediterranean."

"What is crucial is to have a global approach that takes into account the roots of the problem, the security and human rights of migrants and refugees such as having immigration channels that are legal and regular," Ban told La Stampa last month.

[vette6387]

“”What is crucial is to have a global approach that takes into account the roots of the problem, the security and human rights of migrants and refugees such as having immigration channels that are legal and regular,” Ban told La Stampa last month.”

So both hemispheres have a “Southern Border Problem.” So someone needs to tell us all how moving everyone from the South to the North fixes anything.