Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) financial and (b) diplomatic support the Government is offering to humanitarian rescue missions offering help to migrants departing the Libyan coast.
The British Government recognises the value of search and rescue operations undertaken by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the Mediterranean but does not provide financial or diplomatic support. Since May 2015, UK naval and Border Force assets under EU Operation Sophia and Frontex operations have rescued over 31,000 people in the central Mediterranean and Aegean.