Elvert Barnes
The decision to hold the Maltese Summit was made in the spring - after yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean killing hundreds of refugees, seeking to reach the coasts of Europe. Since then, the migration path to the EU has changed: the majority of refugees use land routes through Turkey and the Balkans, and number of desperate attempts to get across the Mediterranean has decreased several times. Now only one seventh of asylum seekers gets to the EU this way.
However, according to the head of the Council of Europe, unemployment, social inequality and a sharp urbanization threaten African countries with negative economic consequences. Thus, more and more migrant workers will seek the European Union. "According to UN estimates, African population will double over the next 35 years. The deteriorating security situation in many countries of the Middle East and Africa today is a test for intra-European solidarity", - declared Donald Tusk. Indeed, some of the EU countries did not wait for the decisions of the next summit. For example, Slovenia began to build fortifications of barbed wire to protect itself from the migrants.
According to Donald Tusk, the summit will determine what steps can be taken to solve the problem of economic and humanitarian migration from Africa. Problematic issues will be united into five units: elimination of the migration causes; organization of legal migration flows; protection of refugees; combating illegal migrants carriers and finally, mechanisms of deportation and readmission of illegal migrants. It is expected that the European leaders agree on the allocation of financial assistance to African countries in amount up to € 3,6 billion in exchange for cooperation to control migration and repatriation of illegal migrants. A new EU trust fund in amount of € 1,8 billion for assistance to countries in Africa will already be presented today.
For their part, the European leaders discussed the issue of combating the influx of migration during five summits of the European Union since the beginning of the year: during this time, according to the EU border agency Frontex, about 1.2 million people resettled to seek refuge and a better life in the European Union. Another informal EU summit will also be held today in Valletta - it is planned to go beyond the EU-Africa cooperation and to discuss, in particular, the possibility of attracting Ankara to solve the migration problem. In exchange for help with the control of migration flows, Ankara can achieve a visa-free regime with the EU, financial assistance, and review of the conditions of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
source: dw.de
However, according to the head of the Council of Europe, unemployment, social inequality and a sharp urbanization threaten African countries with negative economic consequences. Thus, more and more migrant workers will seek the European Union. "According to UN estimates, African population will double over the next 35 years. The deteriorating security situation in many countries of the Middle East and Africa today is a test for intra-European solidarity", - declared Donald Tusk. Indeed, some of the EU countries did not wait for the decisions of the next summit. For example, Slovenia began to build fortifications of barbed wire to protect itself from the migrants.
According to Donald Tusk, the summit will determine what steps can be taken to solve the problem of economic and humanitarian migration from Africa. Problematic issues will be united into five units: elimination of the migration causes; organization of legal migration flows; protection of refugees; combating illegal migrants carriers and finally, mechanisms of deportation and readmission of illegal migrants. It is expected that the European leaders agree on the allocation of financial assistance to African countries in amount up to € 3,6 billion in exchange for cooperation to control migration and repatriation of illegal migrants. A new EU trust fund in amount of € 1,8 billion for assistance to countries in Africa will already be presented today.
For their part, the European leaders discussed the issue of combating the influx of migration during five summits of the European Union since the beginning of the year: during this time, according to the EU border agency Frontex, about 1.2 million people resettled to seek refuge and a better life in the European Union. Another informal EU summit will also be held today in Valletta - it is planned to go beyond the EU-Africa cooperation and to discuss, in particular, the possibility of attracting Ankara to solve the migration problem. In exchange for help with the control of migration flows, Ankara can achieve a visa-free regime with the EU, financial assistance, and review of the conditions of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
source: dw.de
