Two NATO ships are being deployed to the Aegean Sea to prevent smugglers from transporting migrants and refugees in rickety boats from Turkey to Greece, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
The move marks the first time the Western military alliance has gotten involved in Europe's refugee crisis, the largest migration of people since World War II.
'We have just agreed that #NATO will provide support to assist w/ the #refugee & #migrant crisis' - @jensstoltenberg pic.twitter.com/3D2Ky9opW1— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) February 11, 2016
SG @jensstoltenberg: SACEUR @PMBreedlove is directing #NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2 to move into the Aegean without delay— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) February 11, 2016
The order came after a request from Germany, Greece and Turkey at a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, the NATO press office said. Stoltenberg said the decision was made to help Turkey and Greece "manage a human tragedy in a better way than we have managed to do so far."
The #refugee & #migrant crisis 'affects all of us & all of us have to contribute in finding solutions' - #NATO @jensstoltenberg— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) February 11, 2016
NATO's role, he said, will be to contribute "critical information and surveillance to help counter human trafficking."
Intel gathered by NATO on criminal networks smuggling migrants and refugees would be passed to Turkish authorities, who would then go after them.
Stoltenberg said the mission would not be about "stopping or pushing back refugee boats," but Turkey would take back refugees picked up by NATO.
NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2, under German command, will lead the operation in cooperation with Greek and Turkish coastguards, NATO's press office said.
Greece, by way of the Aegean, has been the main transit route to the European Union for some 80% of migrants and refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, according to the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. About 75,000 migrants and refugees have already arrived in Greece by sea in 2016. At least 409 people have died en route.
The Turkish Coast Guard released this dramatic footage showing the rescue of a man clinging to the nose of a sinking boat off the coast of Turkey on Monday. In it, the coast guard helicopter lowers a crew member into the water before carrying him to safety.
The man was lucky. Twenty-seven migrants, including 11 children, reportedly drowned in the Aegean on Monday.