epa04966714 (FILE) A file picture dated 06 September 2014 shows Sub-Saharan migrants (front) transported to an Italian Navy vessel (background) during a rescue operation in the southern Mediterranean Sea. The European Union will launch on 07 October 2015, the first step of phase 2 of the European operation (EUNAVFOR Med) against migrant traffickers in the Mediterranean Sea. The Political and Security Committee, as a ‘sign of hope’, renamed the operation into ‘Operation Sophia’, after the name given to a baby born on a ship during an operation rescuing her mother on 22 August 2015, off the Libyan coast. The operation aims to block human smuggling and its trafficking networks, preventing further loss of life at sea. The deadliest migrants’ journeys are those from Libya to Italy, with unaccounted lives lost during hazardous crossings at sea. Large masses of migrants from war-torn countries and conflict zones reached Europe in recent months, leading EU member states to deal with a migration influx crisis. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L-R), German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron take part in a meeting during a European Union extraordinary summit seeking for a solution to the migrants crisis, in Brussels April 23, 2015. EU leaders will effectively reverse a cutback in rescue operations the Mediterranean on Thursday to try to prevent record numbers of people drowning as they try to flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa. REUTERS/Emmanuel Dunand/Pool – RTX19ZXP
