Nato is to intervene in Europe’s migration crisis for the first time, with a naval patrol ordered immediately to the eastern Mediterranean to combat people smugglers.
Nato planes will also begin carrying out surveillance and intelligence gathering missions, monitoring the flow of migrants and working alongside coastguards in Greece and Turkey.
The alliance was responding to a joint request from Greece, Turkey and Germany. Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary-general, said a small German-led naval force in the Mediterranean is to be ordered to the Aegean to begin the mission “without delay”.
“This is about helping Greece, Turkey and the European Union with stemming the flow of migrants and refugees and coping with a very demanding situation,” Stoltenberg said.
“This is not about stopping or pushing back refugee boats,” he added. “Nato will contribute critical information and surveillance to help counter human trafficking and criminal networks.”
Greece and Turkey had objected to the prospect of having one another’s navies operating in their respective waters, but Stoltenberg said this stumbling block has been overcome.
At present the patrol consists only of three ships. Stoltenberg said several member states have offered to send reinforcements.
Defence ministers from the 28 countries in the US-led alliance agreed in principle to the mission and have asked officials to look at a variety options for establishing patrols along the Turkish and Greek coasts and other smuggling routes.
“There is now a criminal syndicate which is exploiting these poor people,” the US defence secretary, Ash Carter, told a Nato press conference in Brussels. “Targeting that is the greatest way an effect could be had.”
Earlier this week, the International Organisation for Migration said 409 people have died so far this year trying to cross the sea to Europe, and that nearly 10 times as many refugees and migrants crossed in the first six weeks of 2016 as in the same period last year.
There have been concerns that a strong naval presence might encourage more people to attempt to reach Europe, as there would be a greater chance of being picked up in the event of boats sinking.
People smugglers in Libya told the Guardian last year that an increased military presence in the Mediterranean would not act as a deterrent.
Nato involvement is an admission that the European Union, which is responsible at present for dealing with the influx of migrants, is struggling to cope with the numbers travelling by sea.
The alliance already has a strong naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean to help protect Turkey from any incursions from Syria.
