The European Union has solicited for the aid of the United Nations, UN, to curtail the increase in migrant flow in recent weeks.

EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, also pleaded with the UN help in dismantling criminal groups smuggling migrants into the Union.

She said that in the past few weeks, there had been an unprecedented flow of migrants that needed “an exceptional response” from both world bodies.

But she said no refugee would be denied his or her humanitarian rights in the process of tackling the menace.

“No refugees or migrants intercepted at sea will be sent back against their will,” she noted.

Mogherini said the EU’s first priority is to “save lives and prevent further loss of lives at sea”.

She equally announced proposals to tackle the problem as agreed by various EU governments last month

The proposals include the “use of all necessary means to seize and dispose of smuggling vessels.”

However the EU must seek UN approval before it can establish a clear legal basis for any military operation to seize smugglers’ boats in territorial waters.

Diplomats from Italy, the UK, France, Lithuania and Spain are currently drafting a UN Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter that endorses the EU’s migrant crisis plan.

It hopes to serve as the platform for getting a mandate for the use of force to maintain international peace.

More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in 2015, a figure that is believed to be a 20-fold increase of that recorded in 2014.

Over 60,000 people have already tried to make the perilous crossing this year, the UN estimates.

Many of them are refugees fleeing conflict or poverty in nations like Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.