About to expire on 31 March, the anti-smuggling operation in the Mediterranean Sea called Operation Sophia has been extended for another six months by the EU member states. Following the Political and Security Committee meeting that agreed on a draft text on 26 March stating that they “agreed to the extension of the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED operation Sophia for 6 months.”, the Council adopted the corresponding decision on 29 March by written procedure. However, the mission was severed of some of its capacities where, “for operational reasons” they had to “suspend the deployment of Operation Sophia’s naval assets for the duration of this extension, while continuing to implement its mandate reinforcing surveillance by air assets as well as reinforcing support to the Libyan Navy Coastguard.” Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini had threatened several times to oppose the mission if the mission’s rules didn’t change – Italy requested for rescued migrants by Operation Sophia to be redistributed across the EU countries. Talks over Italy’s request “will continue following the agreement but diplomats say they do not expect a breakthrough anytime soon” reads POLITICO. Some human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and the human rights commissioner of the Council of Europe strongly criticized the EU for “abdicating its humanitarian responsibilities” read Reuters.