Migrant Interdiction A Growing Naval Mission

The numbers are staggering.

More than 210,000 illegal migrants crossed the central and eastern Mediterranean in 2014, according to Frontex, the agency that coordinates border movements in Europe. More than 150,000 migrants were rescued at sea between October 2013 and September 2014, according to the Italian government, and more than 3,000 died. Another 2,200 migrants were rescued between Italy and Sicily on Feb. 12. More than 11,000 were rescued between April 12 and 18. On May 2 and 3 more than 5,800 were picked up.

These are just a few examples — there are many more. They reflect a growing crisis that European nations aren't designed to handle, and ones they're scrambling to respond to, at great cost and political consequence.

Read the full article in Defense News.