Yesterday in Rome, at the headquarters of the operation against human traffickers called "Sophia", the Memorandum of Understanding between the European force EUNAVFOR MED and the Libyan Coast Guard.
The technical agreement was signed by the commander of the operation, Division Admiral Enrico Credendino, and by the commander of the Libyan Coast Guard, Commodore Abdalh Toumia, and represents the milestone in the training of the Coast Guard and the Libyan Navy by of the European assets of EUNAVFOR MED.
"It is a concrete act of the European Union in which the programmatic lines of the cooperation of EUNAVFOR MED with the Coast Guard and the Libyan Navy are defined - said Admiral Credendino who then added - the project that in recent weeks we have developed, in full cooperation and in harmony with the Libyan counterpart, will be able to counteract the criminal organizations that profit from human trafficking. As a result, this agreement will help prevent further loss of lives at sea ".
On 20 June last, in fact, the Council of the European Union extended the mandate of the Sophia operation until 27 July 2017, also adding two tasks to support the mandate itself: the training of the Coast Guard and the Libyan Navy and the contribution to the implementation of the arms embargo in accordance with the resolution of the United Nations Security Council nr. 2292 of 14 June 2016.
The program, which will actively involve numerous other bodies such as EUBAM Libya (EU Border Assistance Mission in Libya), FRONTEX and United Nations, will be divided into three packages: one training at sea, one on land (in dedicated training centers of member countries of the European Union or in Libya) and, finally, aboard patrol units of the Coast Guard and the Libyan Navy.
Following the activities conducted by the ships and the aircraft of the EUNAVFOR MED operation, launched on June 22, 2015, to date 84 suspected traffickers have been arrested and 255 boats removed from the availability of criminal organizations. There are also 21.958 human lives saved directly by the ships of the Sophia operation which, thanks to its air assets, has also helped to save over 37.000 lives.
