NATO Ships Will Fight Migrant-Smuggling

NATO sent warships to the Aegean Sea on Thursday to target smugglers who are moving masses of people fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq over dangerous waters through to Europe. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ordered maritime forces to move into the eastern Aegean. “This is not about stopping and pushing back refugee boats,” Stoltenberg said. The goal, it says, is to surveil and halt criminal activity. The three vessels would put NATO ships in a position to combat operations in Turkey, where smugglers are believed to have enabled more than one million migrants to enter Europe last year. “It is important to respond swiftly because this crisis effects us all,” Stoltenberg said. NATO says the ships will be closely following illegal trafficking routes with help from other international monitors.