Refugee Council raises concerns about Mare Nostrum replacement

The Refugee Council has raised concern about a new Frontex operation called Triton which will have just one third of Italian operation Mare Nostrum's budget.

Mare Nostrum, the Italian search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea, is set to end while Triton will kick into operation on 1 November. 

Even though Italy's Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano insisted all along that Operation Triton will be replacing Mare Nostrum, Frontex chief Gil Arias Fernandez said this was not the case.

"The agency and the European Union cannot be a substitute for member states' responsibility in controlling their borders: we will provide support," Arias said.

Last Thursday Alfano said Operation Triton would "put an end to Mare Nostrum" after a meeting of European interior ministers in Luxembourg.

"We will not have two lines of defense of our borders," Alfano said.

Alfano's comments have drawn criticism from the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, which said that the under-resourced operation could result in more deaths at sea. 

Since it's launch last year, Mare Nostrum has resced an estimated 140,000 people from the Mediterranean.

Triton, on the other hand, has a budget of about €3 million a month - a third of Mare Nostrum's budget - and would be limited to patrolling about 50km off the Italian coast. 

Frontex has sent out a request for technical support and equipment to European member states but has not revealed which countries would be joining Triton.

“The limited range and border enforcement mandate of Operation Triton are no substitute for Mare Nostrum. If the EU is serious about preventing future tragedies, it needs to give Triton the mandate and resources to rescue boats throughout the Mediterranean”, said Judith Sunderland, Senior Europe Researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Italy been struggling to cope with the increasing numbers of migrants arriving in Europe across its southern borders and called on Europe to help.

Operation Triton "will begin on November 1 independently of what happens to Mare Nostrum: the decision whether to cut back or terminate this last operation falls to the Italian government," Arias said.

The Frontex chief went on to clarify the limits of its action: "Saving lives is always an absolute priority, but the Agency's mandate is to control borders, we do not do search and rescue, even if a border control mission often becomes search and rescue," he said.