EU asks for UN help over migrants smuggling

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has pleaded for UN help to dismantle criminal groups smuggling migrants into the European Union.

"We need to count on your support to save lives," she told a Security Council briefing on EU plans to use force against smugglers.

Libya, where many smugglers operate, has objected to the EU proposals.

More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in 2015 - a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.

Some 60,000 people have already tried to make the perilous crossing this year, the UN estimates. 

Many are fleeing conflict or poverty in countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.

Diplomats from Italy, the UK, France, Lithuania and Spain are drafting a UN Security Council resolution under chapter seven of the UN charter that endorses the EU's migrant crisis plan, with the aim of getting a mandate for the use of force to maintain international peace.

It is as yet unclear what shape military action could take.

Earlier, the Libyan ambassador to the UN told the BBC that the EU's intentions were unclear and that the Libyan government had not yet been consulted.

...BBCNews