The EU’s anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling naval operation in the Mediterranean, EU NAVFOR MED Sophia (Operation Sophia), is due to finish at the end of March and it is unclear whether or not it will be extended. The operation has had limited success due to its confused mandate and unrealistic expectations of what a military deployment can reasonably achieve in managing migration.
In this policy brief, Julia Himmrich argues the EU needs to reframe its overall approach to managing migration through the Mediterranean and strictly limit the roles assigned to the military to those it is suited to fulfil and outlines policy recommendations that would help the EU do so.
Julia Himmrich is a Dahrendorf Forum Post-Doctoral Fellow based at the London School of Economics.
Download the policy brief here.
