The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to authorize for another year the inspection of vessels off the coast of Libya suspected of smuggling migrants or engaging in human trafficking from the North African nation.
The resolution reaffirms the need to end the proliferation of smuggling operations in the Mediterranean Sea, which U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his latest report remains “among the deadliest routes for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe.”
The measure also “condemns all acts of migrant smuggling and human trafficking into, through and from the Libyan territory and off the coast of Libya, which undermine further the process of stabilization of Libya and endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”
