"The European Union has been forced to drop controversial plans to deport failed asylum seekers who do not have passports after African countries blocked the move.
European
leaders offered more than £1billion [$1.5 billion US] aid in a bid to persuade their
African counterparts to take back tens of thousands of illegal migrants....
 |
| Nov. 2015 Migration summit |
A migration summit in Valletta, Malta, descended into farce after the
Africans rejected the EU plan to expel those who do not qualify for
asylum using special papers.
The ‘laissez
passer’ travel documents issued to Africans without identification are
aimed at easing their return back to countries they left or travelled
through.
Under
the proposal, EU countries would decide where a person without a
passport has come from in Africa and issue the papers in lieu of a
passport.
Many
people arrive in Europe without identity papers with some falsely
claiming to be Syrians or Iraqis in order to increase their chances of
being granted asylum.
Draft
conclusions for the summit of EU and African leaders written earlier
this week showed it was planned they would agree to ‘enhance recognition
of the EU laissez passer for return purposes’.
But last
night it emerged that this would not be in the final conclusions when
they are adopted today. A leaked copy of document handed to the Mail
showed the line had been removed.
David
Cameron last night announced the UK will use £200 million of aid money
to help African countries tackle the migrant crisis.
The
government said the funding, which will be given between now and 2020,
will be used to help African countries cope with economic pressures,
environmental disasters such as droughts and problems of corruption. It
will also be used to provide humanitarian support for refugees.
The
Government will provide £125 million to Ethiopia, which has seen its
refugee population soar from 90,000 in 2011 to 700,000 in 2015.
Some £5
million will be used to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance in
the Sahel countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso, with the money
providing food, water and shelter.
As
part of the drive to tackle the root causes of the problem, a £13
million programme will create 9,000 jobs in Somalia, giving them the
option of choosing to ‘stay where they are and not be coming to Europe’.
A
No10 source said as well as announcing the money, Mr Cameron would use a
working dinner last night to urge African leaders to do more to accept
the return of migrants who have tried to enter the European Union
illegally.
‘The
Prime Minister will be emphasising to the Africans that they have got
to work with us on returns. We welcome the co-operation they have shown
so far but it’s very important that we develop the situation where we
are able to return illegal migrants who arrive in the Mediterranean,’
she said.
Mr Cameron
vowed the UK will play a ‘huge and historic role’ in helping to tackle
the migration crisis, including stepping up efforts to ‘smash’ gangs of
human traffickers.
He
said it was ‘the biggest problem facing Europe today’, with a movement
of people greater than any seen since the end of the Second World War.
Mr
Cameron was last night left embarrassed after a live video feed of one
of the summit sessions showed him texting on his BlackBerry while other
leaders were speaking." image from Daily Mail
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