UK Deploys 'Vital Military Assets' to Fight People Smugglers in the Aegean

Britain has responded to the refugee crisis in the Aegean Sea by deploying "vital military assets" to help a NATO operation to stop people smugglers transporting migrants from Turkey to Greece.A Royal Navy ship equipped with a helicopter will join the German-led NATO mission to stem the flow of migrants and refugees reaching Europe, by patrolling the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey."The purpose of NATOs deployment is not to stop or push back migrant boats," according to a Nato press statement. Under international law, vessels are obliged to rescue any migrants on vessels in distress.Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says the mission for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Mounts Bay will be to disrupt the people smugglers trading in "human misery" by identifying them and passing on the information to the Turkish coastguard, so it can intercept the boats.Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has described the issue as the "greatest challenge facing Europe today".

"We've got to break the business model of the criminal smugglers and stop the desperate flow of people crammed into makeshift vessels from embarking on a fruitless and perilous journey," David Cameron said in a statement.

"That's why this NATO mission is so important. It's an opportunity to stop the smugglers and send out a clear message to migrants contemplating journeys to Europe that they will be turned back. That's why the UK is providing vital military assets to work with our European partners and support this mission."

Greece and Turkey have agreed to send back any people they intercept, despite alleged disputes over sovereignty of a string of tiny islands and airspace over the Aegean Sea, according to a confidential NATO document seen by Greek newspaper Kathimerini.However, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) told British media that the deployment of Britain's Royal Navy ship will "play directly into the hands of the criminal traffickers and ISIS [Daesh] who are using these migrant routes to get their jihadists into Europe."More than 125,000 people have landed on the Greek islands already this year, according to The International Organization for Migration.

Twenty-five people died on Sunday after their boat sank off the Turkish coast near the town of Didim, at least three children are believed to be among the dead, according to Turkish media.