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| Europe |
| EU pushes migration talks with Egypt, Tunisia |
| 2017-02-21 |
| [AlAhram] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... is offering simplified visa procedures and increased economic aid to Egypt and Tunisia in exchange for smoother deportations of unwanted African The bloc has agreed steps to curb arrivals from Libya, the main embarkation point for While the numbers of ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... 's U.N.-backed administration. Officials and diplomats say Cairo has put a high price tag on any new help. "Egypt has two concerns, socio-economic stability and security. And these are interlinked," said an EU official who visited Cairo in January for talks on migration. "So we are working on establishing a dialogue that would look at that, to the benefit of both the Egypt's foreign minister is expected in Brussels for a foreign ministers' meeting on March 6. Another EU official said that would be a good moment "for Egypt and the EU to agree that they want to intensify this cooperation." Talks with Tunisia include simplifying visa procedures in exchange for a readmission agreement that would make it easier for the EU to deport Tunisians staying illegally in Europe, or other nationals who arrived from Tunisia. The bloc already has 17 such deals, including with ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and Pakistain. One of the most contentious elements of the EU's push to stem illegal immigration from Africa is its involvement in migrant camps. The EU has agreed to provide financing for government-run sites in Libya, where - according to a U.N. report - people suffer consistent abuse, including arbitrary detention, forced labour, rape and torture. The second official said these camps were "probably the closest we have to concentration camps in the 21st century" but defended the strategy, saying it was better to try upgrade them than do nothing. "People say they are atrocious and they shouldn't even exist," the first official said. "But they do and we can only see if we can help." Some EU governments, including Hungry and Austria, want to go further and develop sites in north Africa to hold and screen people, and then allow only confirmed refugees to Europe. The feeling in Brussels is that such "external processing" would require extensive operations on the ground at an extremely high legal and security risk. The two officials denied this was the subject of talks with Tunisia or Egypt now. But the EU is training the Libyan coasties to have it take |
| Posted by:trailing wife |