UN critical over EU’s refugee crisis plan

EU plans to destroy the boats of smugglers bringing desperate migrants across the Mediterranean and share the refugee burden more evenly came under fresh fire last night from within and outside the EU.

In an effort to help manage more than 80,000 people who have landed on European shores so far this year, mostly in Italy and Greece, the European Commission is proposing to relocate thousands of refugees to other member countries and wants to launch a security operation in the Mediterranean to eliminate the trafficking operations.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon expressed doubts about the plan to destroy boats, saying “the priority should be given to life-saving and strengthening search and rescue”.