The leaders of France, Germany and Spain have reached an agreement to help Chad and Niger with their border controls in order to help curb the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe from northern Africa.
The leaders made the pledge at a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The summit aimed at reducing the number of migrants that find their way into Europe through the Mediterranean Sea.
The European leaders also announced that they would accept asylum claims from refugees who apply for protection while in Africa instead of their destination countries.
They went ahead to sign a roadmap on the proposal, though details remain scanty as to how it will work.
Presidents from Chad and Niger, as well as the head of Libya’s UN-backed government, were present at the Paris summit.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the summit, called it the most effective and far-reaching meeting in months.
“We must all act together – from the source countries to Europe and passing by the transit countries, especially Libya – to be efficient,” he told reporters. “It’s a challenge as much for the EU as for the African Union.”
In a joint statement, the leaders acknowledged the need to initiate a process in Chad and Niger that would lead to the resettlement of “particularly vulnerable migrants” in Europe.
Libya has particularly been singled out as a major departure point for the migrants, aided by people smugglers who take advantage of the political instability that has rocked the North African state since the 2011 toppling of long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 100,000 migrants have made the perilous sea journey from Libya to Italy this year, with more than 2,000 said to have died while attempting the journey.
