Europe’s “big four” continental powers and three African states agreed a plan on Monday to tackle illegal human trafficking and support nations struggling to contain the flow of people across the desert and Mediterranean sea, reports Reuters.
The 28-nation European Union has long struggled to reach a coherent answer to the influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty and political upheaval in the Middle East and Africa, and the crisis is testing cooperation between member states.
After hosting the leaders of Germany, Italy, Spain, Chad, Niger and Libya, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time for greater coordination.
“We must all act together - from the source countries to Europe and passing by the transit countries, especially Libya - to be efficient,” he told reporters. “It’s a challenge as much for the EU as for the African Union.”
While the meeting was sparse on concrete details, the leaders agreed on the principle of setting up a mechanism to identify legitimate migrants who are fleeing war and persecution, and to use the United Nations to register them in Niger and Chad so as to prevent them being exploited by traffickers.
“At the core of it, it’s all about fighting illegal migration,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference.
She said that Berlin was willing to increase its efforts.
“If we want to stop human traffickers, then this can only be achieved through development aid,” she said.
The migrant crisis has put Paris and Rome at odds. Italy has accused France and other EU states of not sharing the migrant burden and has also asked the EU Commission for more budget flexibility to help it tackle the crisis.