EU leaders hope aid pledges can slow numbers of Africa migrants

Leaders of the European Union met African counterparts on Malta on Wednesday, hoping pledges of cash and other aid can slow the numbers of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from the world's poorest continent.

The summit among the 16th-century fortifications at Valletta was conceived six months ago, after the sinking of a boat from Libya with the loss of over 800 lives forced EU governments to acknowledge migrants' desperation and to step up naval rescue missions.

That initially brought a surge in arrivals, mainly in Italy as well as Malta, the EU's smallest state. But numbers tailed off and Europe is gripped by new concerns: this year an unprecedented half a million people, war refugees from Syria and economic migrants, have reached Greek islands from Turkey.

That has left the Valletta meeting to focus on longer-term problems - such as helping Africa to create jobs or face global warming that is enlarging the desert - and on deals to send home hundreds of thousands of Africans already in Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure since offering shelter to close to a million asylum-seekers this year, said on arrival that the summit would promote "friendly relations with Africans" and offer aid, "but at the same time also set out clear demands and expectations" from Europe.

Senegal's President Macky Sall cautioned Europeans against pushing too hard to repatriate Africans already working in the north after braving deserts and seas to get there. He said more should be done to regularise the status of Africans in Europe.

Negotiations with Turkey, temporary home to over 2 million Syrians, on slowing departures to Greece will be the focus when EU leaders talk alone on Thursday.

They will also hold fraught discussions on how measures they have agreed since April can take effect, as the numbers of migrants via the Balkans strains the system of open borders among European states close to breaking point.

Germany warned that it could start sending Syrian refugees back to other EU states, prompting Hungary to insist it would take none, while Slovenia began to emulate Budapest in putting up new border fences and Denmark said it was tightening immigration rules .

The summit chair, European Council President Donald Tusk, told the Maltese parliament of the strains that threaten the policy of open borders within the EU, with Africa's population set to double by 2050 and many fleeing the Middle East.

“The precondition for conducting our own European migration policy is restoring effective control over our external borders,” said the former Polish premier, noting Malta’s role in the clash of Christian and Muslim powers for control of the Mediterranean 500 years ago and calling for partnership with African and other neighbours to control flows of people today.

African governments have expressed concern at suggestions that Europe could sharply reduce immigration, cutting a vital line of remittance income. EU officials say there will be assurances that legal migration, for students and seasonal labour, could be increased in return for help to cut illegal migration.

A priority for many in Europe is more co-operation from African states in recognising and accepting the return of their citizens who do not meet criteria for asylum.

Some leaders in the EU, the biggest aid donor to Africa, warn that development funds are at risk if Africans do not do more to discourage their citizens from leaving. Official policy, however, is to focus on offering more aid for more help, rather than cutting back what is already paid.

One source of embarrassment for Europeans is a failure of EU states to honour pledges made on their behalf by the European Commission, which proposes they match over $3 billion (€2.8 billion) in additional aid promised from the central EU budget.

So far, just €520 million of that pledge has been put up by member states, although commission officials expect more public donations to be made by leaders in Valletta.

Reuters