EU pushes migration talks with Tunisia and Egypt
The bloc has agreed steps to curb arrivals from Libya, the main embarkation point for migrants seeking to get to Europe from Africa
BRUSSELS: The European Union is offering simplified visa procedures and increased economic aid to Tunisia and Egypt in exchange for smoother deportations of unwanted African migrants, two senior officials in Brussels said. The bloc has agreed steps to curb arrivals from Libya, the main embarkation point for migrants seeking to get to Europe from Africa, and is now looking at its neighbours. While the numbers of migrants setting off from there is tiny in comparison with Libya, Cairo and Tunis have fully functioning governments and are able to police their borders, unlike Tripoli’s U.N.-backed administration.
Officials and diplomats say Cairo has put a high price tag on any new help.
“Egypt has two concerns, socioeconomic stability and security. And these are interlinked,” said an EU official who visited Cairo in January for talks on migration.
“So we are working on establishing a dialogue that would look at that, to the benefit of both the migrants there but also Egyptians from the most vulnerable groups.”
Egypt’s foreign minister is expected in Brussels for a foreign ministers’ meeting on March 6.
Another EU official said that would be a good moment “for Egypt and the EU to agree that they want to intensify this cooperation.” |Talks with Tunisia include simplifying visa procedures in exchange for a readmission agreement that would make it easier for the EU to deport Tunisians staying illegally in Europe, or other nationals who arrived from Tunisia.