--- title: Italian Navy Operation That Saved Thousands From Drowning to End description: U.K says it will not support future EU rescue missions, because they encourage migrants to attempt crossing from North Africa canonical: https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-28T11:56:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:16.136Z article:section: World og:title: Italian Navy Operation That Saved Thousands From Drowning to End og:description: U.K says rescue missions encourage migrants to cross from North Africa og:url: https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Italian Navy Operation That Saved Thousands From Drowning to End twitter:description: U.K says rescue missions encourage migrants to cross from North Africa twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Italy to End Naval Operation That Rescued Thousands of Migrants  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 28, 2014 11:56 AM CUT  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Oct 28, 2014 11:56 AM CUT ### Boat Migrants Risk It All for New Life in Europe  Italian navy rescues asylum seekers traveling by boat off the coast of Africa on the Mediterranean, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  A soldier using binoculars to spot boats carrying asylum seekers, June 2, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Refugees rescued off a boat and carried onto an Italian navy ship, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Italian navy rescues asylum seekers traveling by boat off the coast of Africa, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Italian soldier carries a Syrian child on a ship after the Italian navy rescued 443 Syrian asylum seekers off a fishing vessel, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  African asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italy navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  An empty dinghy with leftover lifesavers after the Italian navy rescued asylum seekers off the coast of Africa, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Syrian refugees sleeping on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Syrian refugees on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Syrian refugees sleeping on an Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  African asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italy navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  African refugees rescued by the Italian navy at night off a rubber dinghy, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  African asylum seekers rescued off boats and taken aboard an Italian navy ship, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  African asylum seekers on board a rescue craft dispatched from an Italian navy ship, June 7. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Africa refugees on an Italian navy ship after being rescued at sea, June 8, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  A mother and child on a Italian navy ship after being rescued from a fishing vessel carrying 443 Syrian asylum seekers, June 5, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Abandoned boats graveyard in Lampedusa, May 29, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris An Italian search-and-rescue operation of migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea is due to end this week, after rescuing around 150,000 people over the past year. The ‘Mare Nostrum’ operation, which involves a large part of the country’s navy and rescued on average 400 migrants a day, was launched after a boat disaster off the Italian island of Lampedusa last October [killed more than 360 migrants](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24866338 "undefined"). The operation has since been deemed unsustainable by Italian authorities. In spite of the efforts of Mare Nostrum, around 2,500 people have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean this year alone. Border officials from European Union countries are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how best to regulate the flow of migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa. Ministers across the E.U. have [acknowledged](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/27/uk-mediterranean-migrant-rescue-plan "undefined") the matter’s importance, but have questioned the effectiveness of expensive search-and-rescue operations. The U.K.’s Foreign Office minister, Lady Anelay, [announced](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/141015w0001.htm "undefined") Oct.15 that Britain will not be supporting any future search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, saying that they “create an unintended ‘pull factor’, encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths.” Anelay said the most effective way to tackle the problem “is to focus our attention on countries of origin and transit, as well as taking steps to fight the people smugglers who wilfully put lives at risk by packing migrants into unseaworthy boats.” The U.K. does not plan to take part in the new “Operation Triton” being launched by the European Frontex border agency on Nov. 1\. This joint EU operation will not include search-and-rescue plans but focuses on border protection, involving patrols within 30 miles of the Italian coast. Frontex spokeswoman Isabella Cooper told the [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04mcbhm "undefined"): “We only have a few vessels and a few aircraft. The Mediterranean Sea is over 2.5 million square kilometres large – it is virtually impossible to have a full overview of what is happening at sea.” Human rights groups like Amnesty International and refugee organizations have criticized the new plans. Michael Diedring, Secretary-General of the European Council on Refugees, told the BBC that the EU should fundamentally change its approach to the problem by offering more safe and legal channels for migrants. “There are almost no safe and legal means to access European soil to file an asylum claim, for example.” U.K. Refugee Council chief executive Maurice Wren agreed, telling [_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/27/uk-mediterranean-migrant-rescue-plan "undefined")that “the world is in the grip of the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. People fleeing atrocities will not stop coming if we stop throwing them life rings.” He warned that withdrawing help would only lead to more people that “needlessly and shamefully dying on Europe’s doorstep.” [**Read more:** Shining a Light on the Plight of Europe’s Migrants, From Rome to Brussels](http://lightbox.time.com/2014/06/30/shining-a-light-on-the-plight-of-europes-migrants-from-rome-to-brussels/#1 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/"},"headline":"Italy to End Naval Operation That Rescued Thousands of Migrants","datePublished":"2014-10-28T11:56:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:16.136Z","description":"U.K says it will not support future EU rescue missions, because they encourage migrants to attempt crossing from North Africa","url":"https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/","keywords":["European Union","Navy","U.K.","Italy","asylum seekers","Refugee crisis"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/european-union/","name":"European Union"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3543082/italy-navy-mare-nostrum-migrants/","name":"Italy to End Naval Operation That Rescued Thousands of Migrants"}}]}] ```