Operation Sophia, formally European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR Med), was a military operation of the European Union that was established as a consequence of the April 2015 Libya migrant shipwrecks with the aim of neutralising established refugee smuggling routes in the Mediterranean.

[7]The operation aims to undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and dispose of vessels as well as enabling assets used or suspected of being used by migrant smugglers or traffickers.

[11] On 20 June 2016, the Council of the European Union extended Operation Sophia's mandate reinforcing it by adding two supporting tasks: training of the Libyan coastguards and navy, and contributing to the implementation of the UN arms embargo on the high seas off the coast of Libya.

[12] On 25 July 2017, the Council of the European Union again extended Operation Sophia's mandate, while also amending its mandate to: setting up a monitoring mechanism of trainees to ensure the long-term efficiency of the training of the Libyan Coastguard, conducting new surveillance activities and gather information on illegal trafficking of oil exports from Libya in accordance with UNSCR 2146 and 2362; and enhancing the possibilities for sharing information on human trafficking with member states' law enforcement agencies, FRONTEX and EUROPOL.

The UK's House of Lords has noted in a report that claims this kind of search-and-rescue operation acts as a ‘magnet to migrants and eases the task of smugglers, who would only need their vessels to reach the high seas’ had some validity.

"[20] In July 2017, a House of Lords report claimed that the mission had been a failure, as it had managed neither to reduce deaths at sea or disrupt the smuggling network.