The EU finally has taken a new step to smash the people-trafficking rings which shove illegal migrants on perilous voyages to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.
Europol, the EU police agency, has set up a maritime intelligence unit, called “Jot Mare” standing for Joint Operational Team. Its job will be to collect and analyse intelligence on smugglers and to work with the EU border agency Frontex and national police to stop them the gangs.
Thirteen EU countries are involved, including Portugal and the UK.
More than 220,000 migrants entered Europe illegally in 2014 while the year before the number was just 60,000. More than 3,000 died at sea last year and already this year there have been more than 1,000 deaths.
The chaos prevalent in Libya has given a free hand to people smugglers who are now operating year round whereas in previous years boats were not sent into winter seas. Italy and Malta have borne the brunt of surge in migrants.
"Doing more and better to counter smuggling is a priority for the European Commission and it will also be one of the main pillars of the European Agenda on Migration that we will adopt in May this year," EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said.
He also said Frontex is monitoring several ports outside the EU as well as about a dozen large vessels in the Med "which might be used for smuggling migrants".
Other participating countries are: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
