Cameron and Merkel pledge to send ships to Mediterranean

David Cameron and Angela Merkel led pledges to send more ships to deal with a Mediterranean refugee crisis in a move that marked a sharp policy about-turn for both the UK and Germany.

The dispatch of the Royal Navy's flagship on a search and rescue mission - exactly the kind once opposed by Berlin and London as a magnet for migrants - reflects the abrupt political shift that has followed the public outcry over roughly 1,000 lives lost this week as migrants tried to reach Italy from Libya.

A hastily arranged summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday has steered clear of fundamental reforms of the bloc's complex migration policy and has instead moved to boost resources in the Mediterranean and start preparations for a joint EU military mission to tackle smuggler ships.

Italy is strongly advocating a military mission but this is expected to take months to arrange - particularly given the political sensitivities over securing a legal mandate to potentially attack smuggler ships within Libyan ports. Russia in particular is wary of backing any fresh UN mandate for action in Libya.

Meanwhile, the self-declared authority that controls Tripoli and much of western Libya on Thursday warned the EU against mounting any military mission without its approval.

More immediately, Britain will send HMS Bulwark, a helicopter carrier, along with two smaller vessels, for a period of around two months. Germany is expected to send two frigates to deal with the growing refugee crisis off the coast of Libya.

The British ships will perform a search and rescue role and operate outside the framework of the EU's border agency, Frontex, which is restricted to surveillance operations within 30 miles of the Italian coast.

"What we're dealing with here is a real tragedy in the Mediterranean and today's meeting has got to be about saving lives," said Mr Cameron. "Of course saving lives means rescuing these poor people, but it also means smashing the gangs and stabilising the region."

Both Britain and Germany - along with other countries such as France, the Netherlands and Austria - had argued forcefully as recently as October that search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean acted as a pull factor, encouraging more people to make a dangerous voyage across the open sea. Mr Cameron said: "Look, when these tragedies happen we're always there and this time will be no exception."

The pledges came as European leaders faced growing criticism over recent deaths on the EU's southern border. Although the current EU-backed mission in the Mediterranean does not have a search and rescue mandate, leaders are hopeful that by adding more resources, more lives will be saved.

Migration policy has historically split the EU on north-south lines. The current summit is proving no exception. In the run up to the meeting, Theresa May, the UK home secretary, insisted that the bloc's core migration rules and the Frontex mandate were not up for negotiation.

Diplomats from Germany, which takes more asylum seekers than any other European nation, earlier this week criticised other member states for not accepting enough refugees. Nordic countries, meanwhile, have opposed a system of relocating migrants among countries within the EU.

The move to send more ships to the Mediterranean was cautiously welcomed by campaign groups, which have argued for a comprehensive search and rescue effort since the Italian operation Mare Nostrum was scrapped in October 2014.

Brendan Cox, director of policy and advocacy at Save the Children, said: "We need more details on the specifics, but assuming the naval assets are specifically for search and rescue, this is a big breakthrough."

He added: "The litmus test for the meeting as a whole remains whether that beefed up search and rescue mission will be deployed in the timeframe (48 hours) and at the scale that is necessary."

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