Human trafficking

EU preps to launch military strikes against Mediterranean people smugglers

The European Union (EU) is planning to shift its operation in the Mediterranean against human trafficking to a more aggressive stance, said Federica Mogherini, the EU's top official for security and defence policy.

The change would authorise the mission's naval commanders to chase down, capture, and destroy the flimsy and overcrowded vessels used to ferry refugees - often fatally - to Europe's shores.

During a webcast press briefing in Luxembourg on 3 September at the conclusion of two days of informal talks there among EU defence ministers, Mogherini told reporters that "we are ready to build on the good results of phase I" of the operation by switching to more proactive manoeuvres on the high seas.