UN Security Council approves EU anti-trafficking mission

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution allowing EU naval forces to intercept and seize vessels smuggling refugees on high seas. The migrants should be treated with "humanity and dignity," the document says.

Deutsche Welle, 9 Oct 2015

The resolution, which the council approved on Friday, can be militarily enforced under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.

By approving the British-drafted document, Security Council provided international backing for the EU initiative to stem the flow of refugees from Libya to the European coast.

Earlier this week, EU-members sent several warships to international waters off the coast of Libya with orders to board and search smuggler's boats, arrest human trafficking suspects and transport any migrants to Europe.

The resolution provides UN authorization for one year and asks for the refugees found on the ships to be "treated with humanity and dignity."

Hope for Libya

British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft welcomed Friday's decision, saying that smugglers must not be allowed to "profit from others' despair."

"Action against smugglers on the high sea won't solve this crisis alone," he said. "But it will send a message that people cannot profit from this evil trade with impunity. It will save lives."

The original draft of the resolution would also allow the EU forces to sink smugglers vessels after seizing them. The final document, however, says that action on disposal must be taken "with due consideration of the interests of any third parties who have acted in good faith."

The EU also initially wanted a naval operation in Libyan territorial waters and along its coast, but Libya objected.

The north African country is only beginning to overcome a power struggle between two governments, making political action difficult and leaving a power vacuum used by the smugglers.

Venezuela express doubts

Despite initial doubts from Russia and several African countries on the Security Council, the resolution passed with 14 votes in favor.

Venezuela abstaining from the vote, with its UN ambassador, Rafael Dario Ramirez Carreno, stating that the humanitarian crisis should not be solved by military action.

"The resolution that has been adopted authorizing use of force in our opinion is a disproportionate action, which sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of this topic in the future," he said.

While the EU naval mission aims to curbing the influx of migrants coming across Libya, it does not apply to the so-called Balkan route, where refugees sail from Turkey to Greece.

dj/sms (dpa, Reuters, AP, AFP)

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In UK, refugee crisis 'could define Cameron's premiership'

British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing growing pressure at home and from the rest of the EU to do more in the face of the refugee crisis. Lars Bevanger reports from Manchester.

Deutsche Welle, 3 Sep 2015

People in Britain woke up on Thursday to front pages carrying a harrowing image of a drowned Syrian boy washed up on a beach in Turkey. The gravity of the refugee crisis has suddenly become very clear for all to see, and the British government is now grappling with how to respond.

Prime Minister David Cameron told media on Wednesday that he did not feel taking more refugees was an answer for Britain. The British government has resisted proposals for an EU quota system for refugees, arguing Britain has already accepted almost 5,000 asylum applicants from Syria in the past four years.

That is still fewer refugees per capita than most other European countries have accepted.

Other EU countries, notably Germany, have been urging Britain to do more. The United Nations' special representative on international migration, Peter Sutherland, also said the UK was among those that could do more, noting that Germany, Sweden, France and Italy were all taking in more refugees per capita than the UK.

Pressure from within

Now David Cameron is facing pressure from within his own Conservative party too. A number of backbench Members of Parliament (MPs) and more prominent senior Conservative politicians have openly called for the government to change its stance on refugees.

"I feel that the problems in Syria and North Africa require a full specter of response. One is providing a safe haven to those who are in a dire place and in desperate need," Conservative MP Johnny Mercer told DW on Thursday.

"I think we need to do our fair share within the collective European environment. I do not want people who have come across the Mediterranean, enduring some of the horrific scenes we've seen, to not think of Britain as a place of refuge. It has always protected people who can't look after themselves and I think we should play our fair role in that."

Britain has been especially focussed
on refugees' attempts to cross the
Channel tunnel

Another Conservative backbencher, David Burrowes, said the UK "should accept thousands, not hundreds" of people.

Former Conservative party chairperson Baroness Sayeeda Warsi weighed in on Thursday morning, saying the UK should be prepared to do more. She told media that Britain could "either say it's not our problem […] or say that we have a long and proud tradition of responding when these situations arise."

From threat to refugee crisis

In Britain over the summer the media has focused on migrants trying to enter the UK from Calais via the Channel tunnel.

Earlier this week Eurostar passengers were trapped for several hours while the train operator dealt with people walking along the rails. Most conservative media have portrayed the situation as a threat to British borders rather than a refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale in Europe.

British public opinion has long been divided on the issue of immigration, making it one of the top political issues in May's parliamentary elections. The current Conservative government was voted in promising to reduce immigration.

Harrowing pictures of drowned Syrian children and stories of desperate families being held back by armed police elsewhere in Europe could be turning public opinion though.

Defining issue

Images of a dead boy and others
 found on Mediterranean beaches
have sparked an emotional debate

"Over the last four or five years, we've seen immigration rise to become the most pressing of voter issues. And yet the particularly traumatic pictures that we have seen over the last few days are clearly going to have an impact on public opinion," Andy Mycock, a political scientist at the Huddersfield University told DW.

"This is going to be the issue which more than likely is going to define Cameron's second term. And if he continues to misread foreign affairs as he does, you could see this in the same way as [Tony] Blair's prime ministerial career was utterly decimated by his mistakes in Iraq. It could happen to Cameron. His own party could turn on him," Mycock said.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people have been signing a parliamentary petition to push David Cameron's government into accepting more refugees. If more than 100,000 people sign, the government is required to consider the issue for debate in Parliament when it returns after its summer recess next week.

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Dutch celebrities call for ‘humane solution’ to refugee crisis

DutchNews, September 3, 2015

More than 100 Dutch celebrities, politicians and business leaders have taken out a full page advert in Thursday’s Telegraaf calling for a ‘humane solution’ to the ongoing refugee crisis. 

Actress Carice van Houten, television presenter Wendy van Dijk, musical star Chantal Jansen, Rijksmuseum head Wim Pijpes and KPMG boss Jan Hommen are among the signatories to the statement which calls on politicians and the community to work together to solve the problem. 

‘Do you hear the call?’ the advert asks. The refugee crisis has taken on ‘unimaginable dimensions’, the statement continues. Politicians and large parts of the community are reacting to the crisis using an old-fashioned approach ‘while the situation requires a total change,’ the celebrities say. 

There is a risk that we will reduce our responsibility to doing as little as possible, the statement says. ‘But we have to ask ourselves if we will end up being the society which we would like to be… Let us work together with wisdom and compassion to come up with a humane solution. You can call on us.’ 

Housing

Meanwhile, the head of the Dutch refugee settlement agency on Thursday urged local councils to do more to find housing to cope with the influx of new refugees.

‘We are currently taking care of almost 30,000 people,’ Gerard Bakker told news agency ANP. ‘But 1,800 people are arriving every week and we urgently need to open new centres.’ 

So far 70 locations have been set up where refugees can live and Bakker said talks are under way with a further 120 local councils.

‘I can understand that some communities feel overwhelmed by the new arrivals,’ Bakker said, adding that there is always security on site and that officials are willing to solve problems together with locals.

‘No petrol bombs are being thrown through the windows here, as has happened in Germany,’ he said. ‘And I am proud of that.’

Soul-searching: heart-rending photo of drowned toddler shows cost of Europe's migrant crisis http://t.co/z4jFW5aF3v pic.twitter.com/vkle4cbLU8

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) 3 september 2015

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EU Parliament President Schulz criticizes 'egotism' with intake of refugees

"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

EU Parliament President Schulz criticizes 'egotism' with intake of refugees

EU Parliament President Schulz has called out EU states on Monday for selfish "egotism" in the acceptance and relocation of refugees. He blamed a lack of European solidarity for the disorganization of the refugee crisis.

Deutsche Welle, 31 Aug 2015

European Parliament President Martin Schulz

European Parliament President Martin Schulz heavily criticized several EU states on Monday for their unwillingness to accept refugees.

"We are currently experiencing national egotism in its purest form," criticized Schulz in an interview with Deutschlandfunk on Monday morning.

Schulz estimated that 90 percent of all refugees were being accepted by a total of nine countries out of the 28 EU member states. “The vast majority of countries in the EU are taking in just ten percent of the refugees. It doesn't work like that,” urged Schulz.

A divided front

Numerous EU states bristled at recommendations for concrete refugee distribution quotas, including eastern European states, Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark. Many of these states wish to deal with the refugee problem on a national level, rather than on an EU level

Schulz wondered if this trend of pick-and-choose politics in the EU could hold out in the long run. He said the opposing stances seem "cynical," especially when taking into consideration the daily sorrows and dangers facing refugees.

"The Mediterranean Sea is becoming a mass grave, horrific scenes are playing out on the borders, there is a blame game going on, and above all, people who are seeking our protection are not being helped," he said in Monday's edition of the German daily "Die Welt."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a fast and fair distribution of asylum seekers on Sunday. Germany is one of the EU countries most impacted by the influx of refugees. The interior ministers of Germany, France and Britain have called for an urgent meeting to discuss concrete solutions to the crisis.

rs/jil (epd, Reuters)

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"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

'Moral duty' to save Mediterranean migrants, says Gauck

The German president has called for more compassion toward migrants in view of Germany's own experiences with forced migration after WWII. He said providing them with sanctuary was 'non-negotiable.'

Deutsche Welle, 20 June 2015

 Refugees on board a ship REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello

Speaking on Saturday at a ceremony in Berlin to remember victims of displacement, Gauck said he hoped that the memory of German expellees who were forced to flee the country's former eastern territories during and after World War II would deepen understanding for migrants today.

He described how 12 to 14 million Germans lost their homelands by the end of the war, leading to a population increase of 20 percent in the former West and East Germanies.

Gauck pointed out that if Germany had been able to integrate millions of refugees 70 years ago when it was "poor and devastated," it should be able to do more in the present refugee crisis, and even benefit from it.

"Why should a Germany that is economically successful and politically stable not be able to recognize future opportunities in today's challenges?" he asked.

"Let us remember what a great part refugees and forced migrants played in successfully rebuilding Germany," he added.

More European help

He also called on European Union countries to do more to help cope with the current growing wave of refugees coming to Europe.

In view of the huge number of migrants who have died attempting the perilous boat crossing from Africa to Europe over the Mediterranean, Gauck said it was a "moral duty" to save people from drowning.

"We would lose our self-respect if we left people drifting on waters near our continent to cope for themselves," he said, adding that all European states had an obligation to provide people with a safe refuge.

This obligation was "non-negotiable," and lasted until migrants either could return home without danger or had found a place to live in safety either in Germany or elsewhere, he said.

'No easy solutions'

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere also spoke at the ceremony, warning that there were no "easy solutions" to the current migration crisis.

Last year, the German government declared the 20 June to be a day of remembrance for refugees and displaced people, in conjunction with the United Nations' World Refugee Day.

The German day is partly to commemorate the millions of Germans who were forced to flee their homes in several eastern European countries as a result of World War II and seek refuge in Germany and Austria, greatly swelling the populations there.

tj/sgb (AFP, dpa, KNA, epd)

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EU approves military mission to tackle migrant smugglers: sources

Rohingya hope for peaceful Ramadan in Indonesia

Rohingya women are seen standing at a confinement area in Kuala Cangkoi,

Indonesia's Aceh province (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

EU approves military mission to tackle migrant smugglers: sources

Yahoo – AFP, Alix Rijckaert, 19 June 2015

EU member states approved plans on Friday to launch as early as next week

 the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean,

sources said (AFP Photo/Jason Florio)

Brussels (AFP) - EU member states approved plans Friday to launch as early as next week the first phase of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean, sources said.

"Everything is now in place so that EU foreign ministers meeting Monday can approve the launch of the mission," one EU diplomat told AFP.

Other sources said member states have committed to supply enough ships and aircraft to allow the first, intelligence-gathering, phase of the operation to go ahead.

Stung into action by the loss of an estimated 800 migrants when their rickety boat sank off southern Italy, EU leaders agreed at an emergency summit in April to formulate a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem at source.

As well as boosting search and rescue efforts, they called on EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini to draw up military options against the ruthless traffickers exploiting the waves of humanity seeking to get to Europe across the Mediterranean.

The first phase of intelligence gathering is meant to be followed by active intervention to board and disable smuggler vessels and arrest the traffickers.

A third phase would extend these actions into Libyan territorial waters and possibly inside the country itself.

While some EU states such as Britain and France favour moving promptly to Phase 2 and 3, others have serious reservations about direct involvement in a chaotic Libya where rival factions are fighting for control and the internationally-recognised government has fled Tripoli to take up residence in Benghazi.

To meet these reservations, the EU April summit agreed that Phase 2 and 3 would only go ahead if the bloc obtained Libyan consent -- a difficult prospect -- and a UN Security Council resolution.

Russia, one of the five UNSC permanent members, and others "want a clear Libyan consent; we are still working on it," said a senior EU official who asked not to be named.

"We are rather optimistic that in the end there will be a UNSC resolution to go on with the other phases; there is no absolute certitude but there is a very good prospect," the official said.

Newly arrived migrants huddle together as they try to protect themselves from

 the rain while waiting to be registered in Mytilene, Greece, on June 19, 2015

(AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Opposition to sharing burden

Some 100,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, most of them landing in Italy, Greece and Malta which all want their EU peers to share more of the burden.

The European Commission has proposed that 40,000 Syrian and Eritrean asylum-seekers who have arrived in Europe should be redistributed and that 20,000 Syrians living in camps outside Europe should be resettled across the 28-nation bloc.

Many member states are prepared to contribute to the humanitarian efforts of search and rescue but are less forthcoming when it comes to taking in more migrants or backing the military option.

Migration is a hugely sensitive issue and far-right and eurosceptic parties have capitalised on public concerns about a massive influx of refugees to make considerable inroads at the expense of established parties.

Earlier this week, EU ministers could not reach agreement on the Commission proposals.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday that member states remained "far from consensus" on how to distribute refugees between them.

"These are difficult discussions we're having at the moment and all my conversations with European colleagues show that we remain far from consensus and that a lot persuasion will still be necessary," he said.

"In our view, the best way is mandatory quotas for the European member states."

Germany last year took in 200,000 asylum seekers and expects as many as 450,000 this year.

EU to launch Mediterranean naval mission to tackle migrant crisis

Ministers want to seize smugglers and destroy their boats off Libyan coast to combat rising number of migrants fleeing war and poverty in north Africa

The Guardian, Arthur Neslen in Brussels,Monday 18 May 2015 

Migrants queue at a detention centre in Tripoli on Monday. They were arrested
 as they attempted to board boats destined for Europe, authorities in the Libyan
capital said. Photograph: AFP/Getty

EU ministers have agreed to launch a sea and air mission that could in its later phases destroy vessels used by human traffickers, which have carried an estimated 1,800 migrants to their deaths in the Mediterranean this year.

An intelligence-gathering operation will herald the mission’s first phase, with the UK expected to offer drones and surveillance equipment as a partial riposte to calls for it to take in more refugees.

In later phases, hostile vessels suspected of harbouring migrants could be boarded, searched, seized or disposed of in Libyan territory or international waters – as long as a chapter 7 UN resolution to authorise the use of force to do so is obtained first.

The plan could be launched as soon as 25 June, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told a Brussels press conference.

“There is a clear sense of urgency as we all know that June is the beginning of summer and in this operation, seasons are important,” she said. “As summer comes, more people are travelling so we want to have the operation in place as soon as possible, if it is to deter the traffickers’ and smugglers’ organisations.”

Mogherini avoided mention of the “boots on the ground” option to destroy smugglers’ assets, outlined in an EU strategy paper revealed by the Guardian before the summit.

The mission’s rules of engagement have still to be thrashed out and one diplomat described the deployment of such forces as “the next step in terms of operational details”. The level of collateral damage considered acceptable would also be discussed after the mission was up and running, he said.

  

The operation will have its headquarters in Rome and be run by an Italian rear admiral, Enrico Credendino, with an initial year-long mandate.

Concerns about the militarisation of the migrants issue will probably be raised at the UN, though, with Libya already describing the mission as very worrying, citing concerns over its potential to mistakenly target fishermen’s boats.

Refugee rights groups fear that bombing the escape routes of people fleeing for their lives from Syria, Eritrea and west Africa – where most migrants begin their journeys – will simply lead to more deaths, away from the public spotlight.

“An unintended consequence of this mission is that it may even lead to more deaths,” said Michael Diedring, the secretary general of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). “If there is a shortage of vessels, even more people will be packed into them. There is even a possibility, given the desperate situation these people face, that they might try to construct their own boats.”

At present, smugglers’ vessels are often leased from local fishermen on a trip-by-trip basis by a wide variety of low-level criminals. The last-minute loading of human cargoes could prevent the timely targeting of such vessels.

Once loaded, the hulls of these boats are often crammed with people not visible from outside and Diedring said that there was a huge risk that boats could be targeted with people still on board.

“The solution to putting the smugglers out of business is to increase safe legal channels for migration,” he said. “It is ironic that people fleeing from war and persecution are being met with more of the same.”

Search and rescue operations have been stepped up in the Mediterranean since an estimated 800 people died when a ship sank off the Libyan coast in April. The UK has sent a Royal Navy flagship, HMS Bulwark, to join the operation and sent £800m in aid to help poor frontline countries such as Lebanon and Jordan deal with a refugee crisis of overwhelming proportions. About 1.5 million refugees have fled to the two small countries.

But the EU ended its Mare Nostrum search and rescue mission, despite warnings of the potential for an increase in tragedies at sea. Members currently remain at odds over a European commission proposal to more evenly share the number of migrants who arrive in Europe between EU member states.

Over the weekend, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, joined the UK in opposing a quota measure which could stir anti-migrant feelings. “France has already done a lot,” he said.

Under the commission proposal, France would have been asked to take 14% of migrants who reached the EU’s shores, while 18% would be assigned to Germany, by far the largest recipient of migrants at present. Italy would have been asked to accept nearly 12% of the north African evacuees, and Spain 9%.

Saving migrant lives is 'first priority' : EU foreign policy chief

The EU's foreign policy chief has told the UN Security Council that the first priority in confronting the Mediterranean migrant crisis is to save lives. Some 5,000 refugees have died in the last 18 months.

Deutsche Welle, 11 May 2015

Speaking before the 15-member council in New York on Monday, Federica Mogherini said the migrant crisis "is not only a humanitarian emergency but also a security crisis since smuggling networks are linked to and finance terrorist activities."

"Our first priority is to save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea," added.

Military action

Mogherini is currently in the US seeking support for a for a controversial EU plan which aims to stem the tide of refugees making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

The blueprint suggested by the EU involves military action to destroy boats used by migrant smugglers to transport the migrants, who have seized on the chaos in Libya to set up operations.

"We cannot work alone. We need a partnership if we want to end this tragedy," Mogherini said.

With more than 1,800 dead this year alone, Mogherini described the migrant flow on Monday as an "unprecedented situation."

"We need an exceptional response," she told the council.

Call for support within the EU

UN Security Council members Britain, France, Lithuania and Spain are currently working with Italy on a draft resolution that would endorse the EU migrant crisis plan.

For months, Italy and other southern European states have been demanding help from other EU nations, with pressure for action intensifying last month when 800 migrants drowned as a ship sunk off the coast of Libya.

The latest plans to take military action have been condemned by human rights and aid organizations, however, who argue that the focus should instead be broadening legal avenues for migrants to reach Europe.

ksb/kms (AFP, dpa)

Russia, China launch joint exercise in Mediterranean

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-05-02

Geng Yansheng, the spokeperson of China's defense ministry announced on
April 30 that China will launch Joint Sea 2015 exercise with Russia over the
Mediterranean Sea in May. (Photo/CNS)

Geng Yansheng, the spokesperson of the Chinese ministry of defense confirmed that the People's Liberation Army Navy and the Russian Navy will launch joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea later this month, according to our sister newspaper, Want Daily.

Among the nine vessels which will participate in the exercise, known as Joint Sea 2015, three warships are from the PLA Navy's 19th escort task force currently patroling the waters of the Gulf of Aden. Those ships include the Weishanhu, a Type 903 replenishment ship, the Linyi and the Weifang, two Type 054A guided-missile destroyers according to Geng. He said that the joint exercise is not being carried out with any third nation in mind and has nothing to do with the political developments in the region.

The exercise is being launched to help China and Russia to gain the experience both nations need to face potential maritime threats in the future, Geng said. Like the military parade held in Moscow to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which Xi Jinping will attend personally, it is aimed at strengthening the military-to-military relationship between China and Russia, according to the report.

Chang Ching, a researcher from Taiwan's Society for Strategic Studies said that the exercise is not the first time that the PLA Navy has deployed its ships to the Mediterranean Sea. He said that China deployed the Linyi to Yemen to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation earlier this year. He said that the exercise should also be considered part of China's military diplomacy because its vessels may visit countries in the region after the exercises.

European leaders agree to reinforce migrant rescue mission in Mediterranean

English.news.cn, Editor: huaxia,  2015-04-24

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker (L) and European Council
President Donald Tusk (R) attend a press conference after an extraordinary summit
aiming to discuss how to address the migratory pressures in the Mediterranean, at the
EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, April 23, 2015. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

  

BRUSSELS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- European leaders agreed to reinforce the Joint Operations in the Mediterranean by increasing the financial resources at the extraordinary summit on migratory pressures on Thursday.

European Council President Donald Tusk told a press conference that "we have agreed to triple the resources available to Triton border mission to enhance its operation capability."

The Triton operation is a migrant search and rescue mission run by the European Union (EU) 's justice and home affairs agency Frontex.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the funding for the Triton operation will be increased to 120 million euros (130 million U.S. dollars).

"Given the instability in Libya creates an environment for the criminal activities of traffickers," according to an EU statement, European leaders also decided to step up cooperation against smuggling networks, through Frontex and by deploying immigration officers to the third countries.

Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks at the press briefing after the European
 Union (EU) extraordinary summit aiming to discuss how to address the migratory
 pressures in the Mediterranean at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on
April 23, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)

Only 28 migrants out of 700 have survived by far after their boat capsized some 130 miles (209 km) south of Lampedusa, Italy, last Saturday night.

This disaster follows another similar tragedy which took place a week earlier, during which more than 400 migrants drowned after their vessel sank off the Libyan coast.

In response to the deaths of thousands of people in the Mediterranean, the institutions of the EU and member states have been called on to take the necessary humanitarian actions and political decisions.

Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, called for an EU migration policy in his Preliminary remarks. However, "there is no such thing as an EU migration policy. We have a patchwork of 28 different national systems," Schulz said.

"The lack of a truly European asylum and migration policy is now turning the Mediterranean into a graveyard," said he.

Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Thursday said he was confident in the new European Union (EU)'s commitment on the migrant crisis at the extraordinary summit.

"I am optimistic on the fact that we can bring home the sign that something has finally changed in Europe ... I believe I can say there are all the conditions for a change," Renzi was quoted by Italian media as saying.

EU Commission proposes 10-point migrant crisis action plan

Yahoo – AFP, 20 April 2015

The body of a person who died after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized 

off the Libyan coast is brought ashore, retreived by the Italian Coast Guard, in

Malta on April 20, 2015 (AFP Photo/Matthew Mirabelli)

Luxembourg (AFP) - The EU unveiled a 10-point action plan Monday to stem the tide of migrants crossing the Mediterranean after the latest disastrous loss of life, promising to step up both control and rescue operations.

The European Commission said the plan, approved by EU foreign and interior ministers at an emergency meeting in Luxembourg, will be submitted to a summit Thursday as the 28-member bloc tries to halt a growing death toll off its southern shores.

European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said the plan reflected a determination to respond after the sinking Sunday of a boat carrying perhaps 700 migrants and reports of other vessels being in trouble.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini 

gives a joint press conference during an 

emergency meeting in Luxembourg on

April 20, 2015 (AFP Photo/John Thys)

"We need to show that same collective European sense of urgency we have consistently shown in reacting in times of crisis," Mogherini said.

"The dire situation in the Mediterranean is not a new nor a passing reality," she added.

The 10-point plan calls first for the current Triton maritime frontier mission to be stepped up, both in funding and resources so it can cover a wider issue.

Triton replaced Italy's own Mare Nostrum mission which Rome scrapped late last year in protest that its EU partners did not share the burden of the cost.

The EU will also try to capture or destroy people smuggler boats and increase cooperation across the board, the Commission said.

The bloc will offer too a "voluntary pilot project on resettlement, offering a number of places to persons in need of protection," a key but small step forward in spreading out the problem.

Diplomats said this could cover 5,000 places but the Commission statement gave no figure.

Additionally, the EU will "establish a new return programme for rapid return of irregular migrants."

It will also step up cooperation efforts with neighbours of war-torn Libya, the epicentre of the problem, the statement said.

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MOAS: 'Migrants do not deserve to die out at sea'

Fury as 700 feared dead in 'avoidable' Med shipwreck

Yahoo – AFP, Angus MacKinnon, 19 April 2015

In this video grab released by the Italian Coast Guard on April 19, 2015, a 

helicopter and a ship take part in a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily

following a shiprwreck last night (AFP Photo)

Rome (AFP) - More than 700 people are feared to have drowned after an overcrowded boat smuggling them to Europe capsized off Libya, officials said Sunday, prompting demands for the European Union to react to the Mediterranean's deadliest migrant disaster to date.

Italy's coastguard, which was coordinating the search for survivors and bodies, said only 28 people had survived a wreck that triggered fresh calls from Pope Francis and others for European leaders to act over what many saw as an avoidable tragedy.

The UN refuguee agency (UNHCR) said survivors' testimonies suggested there had been around 700 people on board the 20-metre (70-foot) fishing boat when it keeled over in darkness overnight, officials said.

A boat transporting migrants arrives in 

the port of Messina after a rescue

 operation on April 18, 2015 in Sicily

(AFP Photo/Giovanni Isolino)

"It seems we are looking at the worst massacre ever seen in the Mediterranean," UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said.

A Bangladeshi survivor who was helicoptered to hospital in Sicily put the numbers on board at 950 and said 200 women and children and nearly 50 children had been among them, according to prosecutors in the city of Catania.

As Italy demanded an emergency summit of European Union leaders, the bloc's foreign ministers tabled talks on the issue for Monday. Anger among NGOs was underlined by Amnesty International, which described the disaster as a predictable "man-made tragedy".

View galleryA boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of …

A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation on April 18, 20 …

Coastal authorities in Italy and Malta picked up a distress signal from the stricken vessel around midnight (2200 GMT) on Saturday, when it was still in Libyan waters.

The Italian coastguard instructed a nearby merchant ship to provide assistance and it was when the Portuguese-registered King Jacob arrived at the scene that the fishing boat capsized, most likely as a result of the terrified passengers stampeding to one side in their desperation to get off, the UNHCR's Sami said.

Italian, Maltese and merchant boats scoured the area for survivors but only 24 bodies were recovered. They were due to arrive in Malta on Monday morning while survivors are being taken to Sicily.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the coastguard would seek to salvage the boat and ensure any corpses recovered from it were given a decent funeral.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, called the disaster a stain on the EU's conscience.

A boat transporting migrants arrives in

 the port of Messina after a rescue

 operation on April 18, 2015 in Sicily

(AFP Photo/Giovanni Isolino)

"We have said too many times 'never again'. Now is time for the European Union as such to tackle these tragedies without delay."

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, added: "This disaster confirms how urgent it is to restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation and establish credible legal avenues to reach Europe. Otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea."

Worst tragedy yet

The disaster was the latest in a growing catalogue of mass drownings of migrants attempting to reach Europe on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats run by people smugglers who are able to operate out of Libya with impunity because of the chaos engulfing the north African state.

The deadliest incident prior to Sunday occurred off Malta in September 2014. An estimated 500 migrants drowned in a shipwreck caused by traffickers deliberately ramming the boat in an attempt to force the people on board onto another, smaller vessel.

View galleryMigrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off …

Migrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily in 2014 (AFP Photo/-)

In October 2013, more than 360 Africans perished when the tiny boat they were crammed onto caught fire within sight of the coast of Lampedusa.

That tragedy was described at the time as a wake-up call to the world but 18 months later there is no sign of a let-up in the numbers attempting the perilous crossing in search of a better life in Europe.

The latest disaster comes after a week in which two other migrant shipwrecks left an estimated 450 people dead.

If the worst fears about Sunday's tragedy are confirmed, it will take the death toll since the start of 2015 to more than 1,600.

Migrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily

in 2014 (AFP Photo)

More than 11,000 other would-be immigrants have been rescued since the middle of last week and current trends suggest last year's total of 170,000 migrants landing in Italy is likely to be exceeded in 2015.

Avoidable deaths?

Pope Francis urged EU leaders to "act decisively and quickly to stop these tragedies from recurring".

Amnesty's John Dalhuisen called Sunday's accident a "man-made tragedy of appalling proportions."

"These latest deaths at sea come as a shock, but not a surprise."

Amnesty is among NGOs calling for the restoration of an Italian navy search-and-rescue operation known as Mare Nostrum which was suspended at the end of last year.

Italy scaled back the mission after failing to persuade its European partners to help meet its operating costs of nine million euros ($9.7 million) a month amid divisions over whether the mission was unintentionally encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing.

Mare Nostrum has been replaced by a much smaller EU-run operation called Triton.

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