http://eubulletin.com/5030-malta-summit-on-refugees-eu-wants-africa-take-back-migrants.html
Malta Summit on Refugees: EU Wants Africa Take Back Migrants
Written by _at_Eubulletin | Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
_at_EUBULLETIN
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
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The European Union is going to push African leaders to contribute to
the solution of the refugee crisis at the summit in Malta later this
week in exchange for billions of euros in development assistance.
After Brussels managed to persuade Turkey to regulate the flow of
Syrian refugees, the EU leaders are now turning their attention to
another major source of migrants. The Malta summit will host more than
50 leaders from Europe and Africa, including Eritrea, Niger, Ethiopia,
Somalia, and Sudan, from which many migrants originate.
On top of making African leaders tackle migration routes, Europe hopes
that African countries will take back people classified as economic
migrants rather than refugees from war. In return, Europe would
provide funding to help solve conflicts and wars and alleviate poverty
in Africa. Conflicts and poverty have been the root causes of almost
25 percent of 800,000 migrants this year. Moreover, the European
Commission is also expected to announce a 1.8-billion euro emergency
trust fund for Africa. A European diplomat commented that this move
“is a new impetus we want to give”. Many migrants originating from
Africa have also been displaced by the Boko Haram Islamist movement
based in north-eastern Nigeria, which is, however, also active in
Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon. To make matters worse, the Lake
Chad basin has also been hit by droughts that have displaced about 2.5
million people.
This week’s summit was convened months ago when Libya was still the
main transit route for migrants trying to reach the old continent in
old vessels and fishing boats. However, since then the principal route
has been redirected over the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands, and then
up through the Western Balkans. Nevertheless, EU leaders want to keep
their focus on Africa as many of the current refugees who arrived in
Italy are Eritreans, Sudanese and Nigerians. “Despite the current
focus on Syria, the Valletta summit is very important for European
capitals, because it is aimed at tackling a long-term problem,” the EU
says.
Received on Tue Nov 10 2015 - 07:32:22 EST