Europeans and Africans promise new approach on migration

Rome (AFP) - Ministers from 58 European and African states on Thursday pledged to adopt a new coordinated approach to migration that goes beyond the single issue of policing borders.

The fourth round of talks between European countries and their Mediterranean neighbours under the so-called Rabat process, resulted in a "significant forward step in terms of our objectives," said Senegal's Interior Minister Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo.

Diallo said migratory fluxes were generating problems for both African and European states.

"For Africa it is not desirable to see some of its best people leaving while European countries find themselves with newcomers they feel they cannot deal with," he said.

As a result, countries on both sides of the fence needed to adopt a common approach of discouraging migrants from making the initial journey towards Europe, while European countries had to do more to ensure those arriving on their doorsteps were assured of their basic rights.

Italy has been particularly affected by a surge in the numbers of migrants seeking to enter Europe by sea from Africa with more than 150,000 having been rescued from rickety boats already this year.

And social tensions over the issue spilled over to street violence in Rome recently, where residents of a poor neighbourhood spent three nights attacking a refugee centre.

"That is exactly the kind of situation we want to avoid," said Moroccan Foreign Minister Anis Birour.

"It is possible to find another way rather than always resorting to the idea that all the problems of society are the fault of the immigrant."

For that to happen, European leaders had to be bolder in explaining that immigration has many benefits for recipient countries.

"They have to explain that controlled immigration can be a plus. It is like water, it irrigates our societies. If there is no water there is no life but if you have too much, then you have a flood."