The European Parliament Thursday adopted a resolution calling on EU member states and the EU's coast guard agency (Frontex) to provide a more proactive and coordinated approach in order to save lives at sea.
Member states should also make full use of vessels operated by NGOs, says the resolution.
It calls on the European Commission to provide comprehensive information about all the types of support the EU and its member states provide to border and coast guards in third countries, including Libya, Turkiye, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
The Parliament strongly condemned criminal smuggling and trafficking, whilst reiterating that safe and legal pathways, notably through resettlement, are the best way to avoid casualties at sea.
It urged the European Commission and the national authorities to assess allegations of serious fundamental rights violations by the Libyan coast guard and to end such cooperation if those breaches are proven.
It also demanded that the EU's executive body put forward proposals to make funding to third countries conditional on them cooperating to manage migration flows and on the fight against human traffickers and migrant smugglers.
According to media reports, hundreds of migrants lost their lives after their fishing boat sank off southern Greece in June considered one of the biggest ever-migrant tragedies.
As many as 750 people from Pakistan, including children, were reportedly packed on the boat.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), thousands of persons have been recorded missing (presumed dead) in the Mediterranean since 2014.
Source: Kuwait News Agency