EU offers Africa aid for migrants
EUROPEAN Union (EU) leaders will offer Africa up to €3.6bn in aid at a summit in Malta in exchange for help in tackling the migration crisis rocking Europe.
EUROPEAN Union (EU) leaders will offer Africa up to €3.6bn in aid at a summit in Malta in exchange for help in tackling the migration crisis rocking Europe.
The gathering of about 50 leaders from the two continents started yesterday and is the newest prong in the EU’s strategy to deal with the biggest refugee and migrant influx since the Second World War.
The money is meant to persuade African leaders to take back more economic migrants from the EU, with many African countries reluctant to lose the billions of dollars in remittances sent home by people working abroad.
EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said European nations would “enhance collaboration” with African countries to protect refugees, send home irregular migrants and stop those smuggling them, while offering Africans legal migration channels.
“That is why this week’s summit in Valletta is so important,” Mr Avramopoulos said on Monday.
As a carrot, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is setting up a €1.8bn “trust fund” for Africa and has urged member states to match that sum — although European sources said it was not certain that they would.
The money would help tackle the root causes of migration, such as poverty and armed conflict.
Progress on the main thrust of the EU’s migrant strategy — fostering co-operation with Turkey — is to be discussed when EU leaders meet alone in Valletta today.
Turkey has surpassed North Africa as the main launching point for migrants going to Europe, and hosts 2-million Syrian refugees.
But tensions with Ankara have undermined efforts to get it to crack down on the huge numbers leaving its shores.
The crisis shows no sign of abating as winter approaches, with EU member Slovenia on Tuesday outlining plans to build “obstacles” on its border with Croatia to stem the flow of migrants.
After Hungary sealed its borders last month, Slovenia found itself on the main Balkans route for the thousands of migrants who are landing in Greece every day after braving the crossing from Turkey.
The EU-Africa summit was first called months ago when lawless Libya was still the main springboard for migrants to the EU.
But the EU wants to keep a focus on migration from Africa because, as one diplomat said, it “is a long-term problem”.
A senior EU official said African officials still wanted to redraft proposals for the return of migrants. “They want us to insist more on voluntary returns,” he said.
The EU wants to keep a focus on migration from Africa because it is a long-term problem