The new Mediterranean operation called Themis which was launched on Thursday is aimed at removing the obligation of the previous mission to bring rescued migrants only to Italy. Triton, which was the previous Frontex operation launched in 2014, required all those rescued at sea to be brought to Italy even if another EU country, such as Malta, was closer. “Triton said that whoever rescued would be taken to Italy,” Izabella Cooper, a spokeswoman for Frontex said. But the Frontex spokeswoman was quick to add that no rescued migrants will be taken to non-EU countries, like Libya or Tunisia. In January, 4,256 migrants reached Italy by sea.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 05, 2018 11:15 UTC