What's In Blue

Posted Wed 5 Oct 2016

Vote on Renewing the Provisions of Resolution 2240 on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in the Mediterranean

Tomorrow (6 October), the Council will vote on a resolution aimed at disrupting human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants on the high seas off the coast of Libya. It will renew the provisions of resolution 2240, which expire on 9 October, for a further year.

Resolution 2240, and the resolution that will be adopted tomorrow, authorise member states, acting nationally or through regional organisations, to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya which they have reasonable grounds to suspect are being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking.

The draft was circulated in late September by the UK with only minor changes from resolution 2240 which streamlined and updated the text. The first and only round of negotiations, held on Monday, was quick and constructive and the draft passed silence procedure yesterday afternoon.

Most Council members are of the view that the UK did not attempt any major changes in light of the significant difficulties encountered in negotiating resolution 2240 a year ago. The contentious issues were related to flag state consent, how Chapter VII would be referenced in the text, and how the authorisation to use force would be framed in the resolution. When drafting the renewal, the UK was aware that Council members had no appetite to reopen the discussions on the compromise language that had been reached on these issues the previous year, and the draft resolution set for adoption tomorrow renews the authorisation as set out in paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 10 of resolution 2240. (For background on last year’s negotiations please click here.)

Tomorrow’s renewal will continue to provide legal backing for EU NAVFOR’s Operation Sophia, which has reportedly saved tens of thousands of lives since it began operations in June 2015. However, according to the Secretary-General’s report pursuant to resolution 2240 (S/2016/766), these provisions have done little by way of deterrence, with 90 percent of those fleeing to Europe via the Mediterranean doing so from Libyan shores. In June, the EU decided to add two additional tasks to Operation Sophia. One is the training of the Libyan Coastguard and Navy, and the resolution to be adopted tomorrow takes note of this EU decision. This was a task envisioned at the outset of the operation but could not be implemented until the formation of a government of national accord in Libya. The other additional task the EU assigned to Operation Sophia is to counter illegal arms trafficking, in line with resolution 2292 which authorised member states to inspect, in the high seas off the coast of Libya, vessels bound to or from Libya.

Both the draft resolution for adoption tomorrow and the Secretary-General’s report reference the Council’s adoption of a presidential statement in December 2015 (S/PRST/2015/25) which recognised that human trafficking exacerbates conflict and fosters insecurity, and called on member states to enhance detection and disruption efforts. Looking ahead, the Council is expected to address the broader issues related to countering human trafficking in December.

Postscript: The resolution was adopted with 14 votes in favour, and 1 abstention (Venezuela).

Sign up for What's In Blue emails

Subscribe to receive SCR publications