EU naval task force in doubt as Germany pulls its ship

Anti-trafficking operation falters as Italy clashes with Berlin over refusal to allow rescued migrants on its soil

A NAVAL operation coordinated by the European Union against migrant trafficking in the Mediterranean was cast in doubt yesterday after Germany announced the withdrawal of one of the task force’s three remaining ships.

German MPS blamed the decision on Italy’s refusal to allow rescued migrants to land. Matteo Salvini, the Italian deputy prime minister, responded by saying the task force should be scrapped as it was placing too much of a burden on his country.

Operation Sophia was set up in 2015 to stop human trafficking in the Mediterranean. It rescued 45,000 migrants from drowning, but a House of Lords report last year called it a failure that had resulted in migrant deaths.

Royal Navy ships served in the task force but the Eu-wide presence dwindled to three vessels – from Germany, Italy and Spain. Germany said this week it would not replace its frigate when it came out of the task force next month.

Operation Sophia was named after a baby born to a rescued migrant on a German frigate. Fritz Felgentreu, the chairman of Germany’s defence committee, said Italy’s refusal to accept rescued migrants meant the operation could no longer fulfil its mandate.

Germany said it felt the task force, under Italian command, had operated too far from the North African coast to obtain any useful information.

But Mr Salvini said: “The point of the Sophia naval mission is that all the rescued immigrants disembark exclusively in Italy. Either the rules change or the mission ends.”

The European Commission was quick to deny it was considering scrapping the task force following the withdrawal of the German ship.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU migration commissioner, said: “Operation Sophia was a success story. There is no question of suspension of participation.” Any formal move to scrap it would have to come from Italy as the country in command, he said.

The dispute came as Italy’s populist coalition faced criticism for removing migrants from the country’s secondlargest reception centre amid concern some would end up on the streets.

The centre, at Castelnuovo di Porto, 15 miles north of Rome, was due to close at the end of the month as part of a controversial reform of Italy’s migrant reception system. A security decree passed last month drastically reduced the number of migrants receiving “humanitarian protection”, making it easier to expel them.

Some migrants chose to leave the centre of their own accord and were seen heading to Rome, where it was feared many would end up living in squats and abandoned buildings.

Politicians from the opposition Democratic Party accused Mr Salvini of orchestrating an operation “that recalls the Nazi concentration camps”.

Jose Manuel Torres, a local parish priest, said: “We’re unhappy and we’re worried. We ask that they not be treated as cattle.” In a tweet directed at Mr Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, his coalition partner, he wrote: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.

Mr Salvini dismissed the criticism, claiming that the migrant centre had cost €6million (£5.2million) a year to operate.