THE Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) condemned the European Union (EU) today for scrapping its rescue missions after at least 11 people drowned off the coast of Libya when their boat capsized on Sunday.

“This tragedy and those before were completely avoidable had Europe stepped up and allowed rescue missions to bring migrants to safety, rather than shift responsibility to others,” NRC spokesman Dax Roque said.

Last month, 130 people drowned in a shipwreck as they tried to make their way from Libya to Europe along the perilous Central Mediterranean route, the deadliest incident in years.