The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has gone to the United Nations Security Council seeking help for “saving migrants’ lives” in the Mediterranean, and approval for the plan to use force against people smugglers.

The EU wants clear legal backing at international level for a draft resolution authorising military operations to inspect and possibly destroy traffickers’ boats.

The move follows a dramatic rise in the number of people trying to cross to Europe from Africa – with a corresponding increase in the number of sinkings and deaths.

In her speech to the UN Security Council, Mogherini said there was an urgent need to face the tragedies unfolding in the Mediterranean.

“2015 looks even worse than the previous year. And considered that in 2014, 3,300 migrants died trying to enter the European Union by sea, which means that three out of four people who perished while crossing the border in the world, died in the Mediterranean Sea, three out of four,” the E