DUBLIN: Europe must do more to help migrants crossing the Mediterranean, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday ahead of a visit to Brussels, as a planned EU naval operation awaits UN Security Council approval.

Europe “can provide more help”, Ban said at a joint press conference in Dublin with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, calling for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea to be “further strengthened”.

“I’m urging European leaders to address this issue in a more comprehensive way and a collective way”, the United Nations secretary-general said, adding that any approach should also look at the “roots” of the problem in countries of origin.

Following Ban’s comments, the EU’s border agency announced it would expand its search and rescue operation to help cope with the upsurge in migrants trying to reach Europe.

The Warsaw-based Frontex border agency said in a statement it will now deploy three aircraft, six offshore patrol vessels, 12 patrol boats, two helicopters and 15 teams of experts to the Triton operation off southern Italy during the peak summer season and also expand its operational area.

The move constitutes a doubling or tripling of the resources deployed up to now and comes a month after EU leaders agreed to increase the operation’s monthly funding from three million euros ($3.3m) to nine million euros.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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