IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a UN Security Council resolution which authorizes UN Member States to intercept vessels suspected of migrant smuggling off the Libyan coast.
UN Security Council Resolution 2240 (2015), adopted on October 9, authorizes UN Member States, for a period of one year, and in accordance with international law, to inspect on the high seas off the coast of Libya any vessels that they have reasonable grounds to believe had been, were being, or imminently would be used by organized criminal enterprises for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya, including inflatable boats, rafts and dinghies.