Boat migrants in EU’s hands as Italy mulls scaling back

Search and rescue operations to prevent migrants drowning in the Mediterranean will be undertaken by the EU as of weekend, but UK says it cuts support, while future of Italian mission looks uncertain The EU will launch a patrol mission in the Mediterranean on the first day of November amid warnings the number of boat migrant deaths could rise with Italy mulling pulling the plug on its own rescue mission.

To complicate matters further, Britain said yesterday it won’t support the planned EU search and rescue operation, arguing it will create an unintended “pull factor” for more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossings.       

The combined efforts of the Italian navy and coast guard have saved over 150,000 men, women and children attempting the perilous crossing from the coasts of North Africa this year so far.

But with the introduction of EU border agency Frontex’s “Triton” mission, it is not clear whether Italy’s “Mare Nostrum”  rescue mission – a large-scale deployment launched a year ago after two deadly shipwrecks –  will be scaled back or closed down entirely.

“Mare Nostrum is being wound up. There will be a formal decision during one of the next cabinet meetings,” Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said recently.

But Alfano has also insisted the two operations are “totally distinct,” as Triton will remain within European territorial waters, while Mare Nostrum rescues people in floundering boats and overcrowded dinghies from the Strait of Sicily to the coast of Libya.

Interior Ministry Undersecretary Domenico Manzione this month said Mare Nostrum “will continue until further notice. For now, nothing changes.”