Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will support search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean for people trying to flee Libya.
The UK Government currently supports the EU's Operation Sophia through the provision of staff to its Operational Headquarters, although Operation Sophia's naval operations are currently suspended. There is no evidence of an increase in the volumes of migrants seeking to cross the central Mediterranean from Libya to Europe. However, we are monitoring this situation closely. The UK Government continues to call on all parties to the conflict in Libya to commit to a ceasefire, ensure humanitarian access to aid the voluntary evacuation of civilians, and a return to the political process.