NIAMEY: Thirteen African and European countries and the EU agreed on Friday that efforts to crack down on migrant trafficking to Europe should also focus on economic woes that prompt poor Africans to seek a better life in Europe.

In ministerial-level talks, they agreed to “attack underlying causes of irregular migration,” according to a joint statement.

“The economic problem... is also the basis for the migration phenomenon,” Niger Interior Minister Mohamed Bazoum said.

The countries also vowed to strengthen national laws to prosecute traffickers and improve coordination among police and judiciary in fighting human smuggling.

The one-day “conference on coordination of the struggle against traffickers of migr­ants” took place against a backdrop of renewed concern in Europe over illicit migration, three years after a massive human influx led to a rise in xenophobia and far-right populism in several EU states.

It was attended by ministers from Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, with represe­ntatives from France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the European Union and United Nations.

The communique called for “developing the conditions for an economy to emerge that is an alternative to the underground economy of illicit trafficking of migrants.” To achieve this requires “an overall approach, with solidarity,” it said.

Reflecting the issue’s priority, France sent two senior ministers — Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who urged participants to take action “as close as possible to the countries of origin.” Niger, one of the large nations lying south of the Sahara in West Africa, has become one of the main routes for African migrants heading north to the Mediterranean coast in the hope of crossing to Europe.

Two Africa-EU summits put the focus on training police and paramilitary gendarmerie forces, help with conducting border checks and the creation of identity databases.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018