News

Migration and Libya top the agenda in Cairo talks for Home Affairs Commissioner

23-03-2011

The EU’s Home Affairs Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, is in Egypt today to discuss the current situation in North Africa, with the dramatic humanitarian situation in North Africa and the broader issue of migration high on her agenda.
 
Malmströmis travelling with Hungarian Foreign Minister János Martonyi as “part of the overall reaction of the European Union to the new political developments in the South Mediterranean and to the need to redefine our relations with the region”, the Commissioner said in a statement in Brussels ahead of her departure yesterday.
 
She said she would address the dramatic humanitarian emergency produced by the conflict in Libya and the effect this conflict has on the flows of refugees to neighbouring countries.
 
“Continued violence could create a situation where more people flee their country in search of international protection. We need to find the most effective ways of helping them. At the same time, we need to ensure that those who are not in need of such protection and are not allowed to stay in the EU are returned in safety and dignity in accordance with our relevant legal standards.”
 
Besides the short-term situation, “we will have a discussion about the long term cooperation concerning migration, labour migration, visa, border control etc.,” Malmströmsaid on her blog yesterday.
 
“I am convinced that a lasting solution to the issue of irregular immigration can only be obtained in cooperation with the North African countries.”
 
The Commissioner added that in parallel, the EU would now start preparing the ground for the new approach – a partnership for mobility and security with the South Mediterranean countries.
 
Mobility is one of the three planks of the EU’s Communication for a Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean, a strategy which spells out what Europe can do to support the momentous changes in its Southern Neighbourhood. (ENPI Info Centre)
 
Read more
 
European Commission press release
 
Cecilia Malmström blog post
 
ENPI Info Centre – Money, Market access, Mobility – three Ms to underpin EU support to its southern neighbours
 
EU Delegation – Egypt
 
DG Home Affairs – website 
 

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