DHAKA: EU foreign and defense ministers are expected to approve a mission to destroy the boats used by people-smugglers operating in Libya.

At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers will also discuss the mission’s command-and-control structure and HQ, reports the BBC.

It is part of the EU’s response to the vast numbers of illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in 2015.

This is a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.

Some 60,000 people have already tried to make the perilous crossing this year, the UN estimates.

Many are fleeing conflict or poverty in countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.

BDST: 1241 HRS, MAY 18, 2015
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