Operation Sophia



Operation Sophia, formally European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR Med), is a military operation of the European Union that was established as a consequence of the April 2015 Libya migrant shipwrecks with the aim of neutralising established refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean. The operational headquarters is located in Rome.

Establishment
The principle to establish an operation to combat people smuggling and prevent loss of life in the Mediterranean stemmed from discussions in the European Council on 20 and 23 April 2015, culminating in the issuing of a Council decision on 18 May 2015 to establish a "European Union military operation in the Southern Central Mediterranean". Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino of the Italian Navy was appointed as operation commander. The Political and Security Committee appointed Italian Rear-Admiral Andrea Gueglio as force commander on 17 June 2015, and on 22 June 2015 the European Council approved the launching of EUNAVFOR Med, to take effect that day.

Name
On 24 August 2015, a pregnant Somali woman rescued from a refugee boat by HMS Enterprise (H88) gave birth to a child aboard the German frigate Schleswig-Holstein, the first to ever be born aboard a ship of the German Navy. At the suggestion of the attending medical personnel, the child was named Sophia. This was a name associated with German naval ships named Schleswig-Holstein, as the earlier destroyer Schleswig-Holstein had used the radio call sign "Sophie X". This was itself a reference to the early battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein, which had been dedicated to Princess Louise Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, as have later ships of the name. EUNAVFORMED was subsequently renamed "Operation Sophia", after the baby born aboard Schleswig-Holstein.

Operation
The operation aims to undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and dispose of vessels as well as enabling assets used or suspected of being used by migrant smugglers or traffickers. The Juncker Commission, in particular the HR Federica Mogherini, views this operation as a fundamental contribution to fighting instability in the region and as a way to reduce the loss of lives at sea and increase the security of citizens of the European Union.

EUNAVFOR Med consists of three phases:
 * The first phase focuses on surveillance and assessment of human smuggling and trafficking networks in the Mediterranean.
 * The second stage of the operation provides for the search and, if necessary, diversion of suspicious vessels.
 * The third phase would allow the disposal of vessels and related assets, preferably before use, and to apprehend traffickers and smugglers.

There is a common budget of EURO 11.82 million for a 12 months period.In addition, military assets and personnel are provided by the contributing states with the running costs and personnel costs being met on a national basis.

By 2016, more than 13,000 migrants had been rescued from the sea in the course of the operation.

On 20 June 2016, the Council of the European Union extended Operation Sophia's mandate reinforcing it by adding two supporting tasks: The length of the Operation may be continuously renewed by the Council.


 * training of the Libyan coastguards and navy
 * contributing to the implementation of the UN arms embargo on the high seas off the coast of Libya.

On 25 July 2017, the Council of the European Union again extended Operation Sophia's mandate, while also amending its mandate to:


 * set up a monitoring mechanism of trainees to ensure the long-term efficiency of the training of the Libyan Coastguard
 * conduct new surveillance activities and gather information on illegal trafficking of oil exports from Libya in accordance with UNSCR 2146 and 2362;
 * enhance the possibilities for sharing information on human trafficking with member states' law enforcement agencies, FRONTEX and EUROPOL.

Currently deployed

 * 🇮🇹 Italy San Marco (flagship)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain Reina Sofía
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Augsburg
 * 🇮🇹 Italy T AB 212 ASW helicopter
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg Two SW3 Merlin III maritime surveillance aircraft
 * 🇵🇱 Poland An-28B1R BRYZA maritime surveillance aircraft
 * 🇪🇸 Spain AB-212 helicopter
 * 🇪🇸 Spain CN-235 VIGMA-D4 maritime surveillance aircraft

Ships

 * 🇧🇪 Belgium Leopold I
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium Louise-Marie
 * 🇫🇷 France L'Adroit
 * 🇫🇷 France Aconit
 * 🇫🇷 France Courbet
 * 🇫🇷 France Commandant Birot
 * 🇫🇷 France Commandant Blaison
 * 🇫🇷 France Commandant Bouan
 * 🇫🇷 France Commandant Ducuing
 * 🇫🇷 France Commandant L'Herminier
 * 🇫🇷 France Enseigne de vaisseau Jacoubet
 * 🇫🇷 France Premier-Maître L'Her
 * 🇫🇷 France Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Karlsruhe
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Schleswig-Holstein
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Sachsen
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Ludwigshafen am Rhein
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Datteln
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Weilheim
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Main
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Mosel
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Rhein
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Werra
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Berlin
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Frankfurt am Main
 * 🇮🇹 Italy aircraft carrier Cavour
 * 🇮🇹 Italy aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi
 * 🇮🇹 Italy San Giorgio
 * 🇮🇹 Italy San Giusto
 * 🇮🇹 Italy Zeffiro
 * 🇮🇹 Italy Etna
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands landing platform dock HNLMS Rotterdam
 * 🇮🇪 Republic of Ireland LÉ Samuel Beckett
 * 🇮🇪 Republic of Ireland LÉ James Joyce
 * 🇮🇪 Republic of Ireland LÉ Niamh
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia Triglav
 * 🇪🇸 Spain Canarias
 * 🇪🇸 Spain Navarra
 * 🇪🇸 Spain Numancia
 * 🇪🇸 Spain  Santa María
 * 🇪🇸 Spain Victoria
 * 🇪🇸 Spain replenishment oiler Cantabria
 * UK Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond (D34)
 * UK Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond (F239)
 * UK Echo-class survey ship HMS Echo (H87)
 * UK Echo-class survey ship HMS Enterprise (H88)

Aircraft

 * 🇧🇪 Belgium Alouette III SA316B helicopter
 * 🇫🇷 France Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft
 * 🇫🇷 France Falcon 50 maritime patrol aircraft
 * 🇫🇷 France AS565 Panther helicopter
 * 🇩🇪 Germany Sea Lynx MK88 helicopter
 * 🇬🇷 Greece Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C command and control aircraft
 * 🇮🇹 Italy Two EH101 helicopters
 * 🇮🇹 Italy SH90 NFH helicopter
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft
 * 🇪🇸 Spain SH-60B LAMPS III helicopter
 * 🇪🇸 Spain P-3M Orion maritime patrol aircraft
 * UK AW101 (EH 101) Merlin MK 2 helicopter
 * UK AW159 Wildcat helicopter
 * UK Lynx MK 8 helicopter

Criticism
The UK's House of Lords has noted in a report that claims this kind of search-and-rescue operation acts as a ‘magnet to migrants and eases the task of smugglers, who would only need their vessels to reach the high seas’ had some validity.

Also the Libyan coastguard has warned that the EU's "Operation Sophia" boosts migrant smuggling, explaining that "People, when they get rescued, call their friends to tell them that there are EU vessels only 20 miles from Libyan waters to save them."

In July 2017, a House of Lords report claimed that the mission had been a failure, as it had managed neither to reduce deaths at sea or disrupt the smuggling network.