UN chief, Italy PM, EU’s Mogherini in symbolic Med sea trip

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will board a navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday to display “solidarity” after a series of boat migrant tragedies. The event comes just over a week after more than 750 people drowned in the Mediterranean’s worst migrant tragedy. The three officials will board the Italian naval ship San Giusto off the coast of Sicily, the EU said in a statement on Saturday.

(The aim is to) assess the situation and help ensure European solidarity for the efforts undertaken to save the lives of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

European Union statement

The trip takes place eight days after a shipwreck off the Libyan coast killed over 750 people fleeing war and poverty as they tried, like thousands more, to reach Europe. Last Sunday’s disaster came after two other migrant shipwrecks left up to 450 people dead. Under pressure to deal with a spike in the number of migrants undertaking the perilous journey to European shores, EU leaders held emergency talks on Thursday and decided to triple funding for the bloc’s maritime search and rescue operation. Brussels also wants United Nations approval for an EU military operation against the people smugglers who organise the hazardous crossings, often aboard overcrowded boats.

It is crucial that we take a holistic approach that looks at the root causes, at security and the human rights of migrants and refugees, and have legal and regulated immigration networks.

U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon

Africa Mediterranean