GETTY The EU has banned the sale of dinghies to people smugglers

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In an extraordinary twist more than two years after the migration crisis began, eurocrats agreed to place a ban on European companies flogging inflatable dinghies to criminal gangs. EU leaders expressed concerns that migrants are being ferried across the Mediterranean from Libya using boats and engines sourced from Europe.

People smugglers have been taking advantage of people’s desperation for a better life by packing them into unsafe and unseaworthy vessels. Thousands have tragically drowned in the Mediterranean whilst many more have been found by rescue teams drifting at sea in tiny inflatables.

GETTY People smugglers often pack desperate people onto unseaworthy inflatables

Italy is currently under unbearable pressure from the sheer number of new arrivals, with 10,000 people reaching its shores every day. The renewed migration crisis has threatened to once more push the EU to breaking point, with Rome furious at a lack of help from fellow members. Italian officials have threatened to close their ports to migrant ships and want a new code of conduct for NGOs running search and rescue operations. As Brussels continues to struggle with the political and humanitarian fallout from the crisis, eurocrats today announced the new measure on boat exports.

These devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities Federica Mogherini

Foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said it was unacceptable people smugglers were using machinery acquired from Europe to commit their crimes. She said: “We took a decision to introduce restrictions from today onwards on the export and supply to Libya of inflatable boats and motors. “These devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities. This decision we have taken at the European Union level will help make their businesses and lives even more complicated.” In a statement Brussels said it national authorities can now block the sale of dinghies and outboard motors to Libya if there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers.

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