One focus of EU pressure will be the reluctance of some African governments to take back their own citizens deported from Europe. Europe plans to coax as well as pressure African governments to help curb migration northward using a mixture of aid and trade levers under proposals put forward on Tuesday by the EU executive. As Africa's biggest donors, divided from the world's poorest continent by a sea that is failing to deter many from attempting risky crossings, EU leaders want to see their trade-and-aid euros used to help solve their migration crisis, though that has brought criticism from African governments and rights groups. "We must do the same that we have done on the route through the Aegean also in the southern Mediterranean to find solutions, sustainable solutions," the former Dutch foreign minister said. His Commission colleague, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, dismissed a suggestion from Libya's fragile, UN-backed government that Brussels might pressure Libyans to take back migrants who set sail from its coast, as Turkey now does.

Source: The Star June 08, 2016 13:18 UTC