The Militarisation of Migration: From Triton to Sofia: Assessing the Credibility of the EU’s Naval Interventions Against Migrant Smuggling in the Mediterranean

Abstract

The European response to the 2015 influx of migrants was to commission a naval force, EU NavFor Med or Operation Sophia, with the aim ‘to destroy the business model of smugglers’, according to EU foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini. Two years later, despite being lauded as a success by its commanders, there has been no appreciable reduction in the number of irregular migrants crossing the Mediterranean, and a sharp increase in the number of deaths. This chapter argues that the intervention a flawed construct from its inception, based on an oversimplification of migration challenges and a belief that migration can be deterred by the use of military forces, yet without any associated punitive action. Such a basic failure-to correctly identify the problem-is resulting in a deeply flawed policy that dooms the primary mission of the military force to perpetual frustration and failure. Furthermore, militarising the issue has, in many ways, exacerbated the challenge by giving a false sense of action, a perception of achievable solutions and measures of success not associated with the core problem.