EU interior ministers will consider plans on Thursday to finance camps in Africa where the UN refugee agency and aid groups would process migrants to prevent them trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. "The people taken up by the smugglers need to be saved and brought to a safe place, but then from this safe place outside Europe we would bring into Europe only those who require protection," he said. Economic immigrantsMost of those taking the Libya-Italy route are regarded as economic migrants with no chance of winning asylum in the EU. The idea of financing camps in Africa enjoys wide political backing in the EU, but poses legal and security challenges. Following the EU deal with Ankara last year, arrivals from the Turkish coast to Greece dropped sharply.

Source: The Star January 26, 2017 18:23 UTC