EU rescue mission leads to migrant deaths

An EU anti-people smuggling operation likely led to more deaths as smugglers changed tactics and crammed migrants into smaller, less seaworthy vessels, according to a House of Lords report.

Operation Sophia - a pan-European mission including the British HMS Enterprise - aimed to stop Libyan boats capable of smuggling hundreds of passengers. Instead, traffickers switched to smaller, inflatable boats that were more dangerous, The Daily Telegraph reports citing the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee report.

The change in tactics "resulted in more deaths at sea of refugees and migrants", The Guardian says.

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The death rate among migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to enter Europe has almost doubled in a year. In the first five months of 2017, the mortality rate rose from 1.2 per cent to 2.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2016, UN agency data shows.

More than 4,500 migrants died ­trying to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy in 2016 - a 42 per cent increase over the previous year, the BBC reports.

"People smuggling begins onshore, so a naval mission is the wrong tool for tackling this dangerous, inhumane and unscrupulous business," said Baroness Verma, chair of the committee, but she noted the mission had been a "humanitarian success".

While the committee was scathing in its assessment of Operation Sophia, it noted that search and rescue work in the Mediterranean should continue as it had saved many lives and that UK ships had led to fewer children drowning, the BBC says.