Merkel wants migrant return deals with N African states

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called yesterday on the EU and North African countries to do deals modelled on a controversial agreement with Turkey to stem migrant flows to Europe, reports AFP.
Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its massive refugee camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution programme. The deal also pledges billions of euros in EU aid for Turkey, visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks.
“We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes,” Merkel told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung.
“Such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves,” she said, pointing to the huge risks migrants take in crossing the Mediterranean in rickety vessels, as well as the large sums they have to pay smugglers for the perilous sea passage.
But fears are mounting in the EU that the pact with Turkey to curb migrant flows could collapse as a rift deepens over Ankara’s crackdown following a failed coup.

 

Merkel wants migrant return deals with N African states

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called yesterday on the EU and North African countries to do deals modelled on a controversial agreement with Turkey to stem migrant flows to Europe, reports AFP. Under the EU-Turkey agreement, Ankara agreed to take back one Syrian who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send one from its massive refugee camps to the bloc in a more orderly redistribution programme. The deal also pledges billions of euros in EU aid for Turkey, visa-free European travel for Turkish citizens and accelerated EU membership talks. We must agree on similar deals with other countries, such as in North Africa, in order to get better control over the Mediterranean sea refugee routes, Merkel told regional daily Neue Passauer Zeitung. Such agreements are also in the interest of the refugees themselves, she said, pointing to the huge risks migrants take in crossing the Mediterranean in rickety vessels, as well as the large sums they have to pay smugglers for the perilous sea passage. But fears are mounting in the EU that the pact with Turkey to curb migrant flows could collapse as a rift deepens over Ankaras crackdown following a failed coup.