The European Union on Wednesday began operation to stem migrant smuggling in the Mediterranean Sea, with its naval mission intercepting boats and arresting criminals in international waters between Italy and Libya.

The EU is facing the biggest influx of migrants and refugees since the end of World War II.

The bulk of migrants this year have arrived in Greece, while criminal networks have exploited a power vacuum in war-torn Libya to smuggle people across the sea to Italy.

The naval mission was launched in June, but had so far been limited to surveillance and rescue activities, with an ultimate view to dismantling the business model of migrant smugglers and curbing loss of life at sea.

Formally known as EUNAVFOR Med, the operation has been codenamed ‘’Sophia’’, after a baby girl born to a Somali migrant during one of the rescue operations.

A statement from the mission’s operational headquarters in Rome, said that from Wednesday, crews will “conduct boarding, search, seizure and diversion, on the high seas, of vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking”.

But, the Italian Refugee Council has expressed concern that the crackdown could harm migrants.

“Experience has, unfortunately, taught us that when deterrent actions are put into effect, but no alternative possibilities are created, the journeys of refugees become even more desperate,” the mission spokesman, Christopher Hein, said.

The mission’s operations area ends 12 nautical miles off the Libyan coast; although it ought to operate in Libyan waters, it would require the backing of Libyan authorities and a UN Security Council mandate.

The statement said that efforts to secure the approvals were on hold, as international negotiations to establish a government of national unity in Libya, where two rival administrations are vying for power, dragged on.

According to the statement, operation Sophia comprises six military ships and seven “air assets” – aeroplanes and helicopters; three more vessels are to join the mission in the coming weeks.

The statement revealed that the mission had saved the lives of no fewer than 3,000 migrants since June, while its activities had led to the arrest of 16 suspected smugglers by Italian authorities.

As at Monday, it said, more than 564,000 people had reached southern EU nations by sea this year, out of whom, almost 133,500 people arrived in Italy.

Similarly, the International Office of Migration (IOM), said that an estimated 2,700 people died while trying to cross to Europe, this year.