The Malta Declaration is a declaration made on 3 February 2017 during the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

by leaders of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, which at the time held the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, that focuses on measures to stem the flow of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

from

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the EU. In 2016 over 4,500 people died on the

Central Mediterranean route The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request asylum, the most in a single y ...

and over 181,000 irregular migrants arrived this way. A senior EU diplomat noted this to be a long-term strategy. The declaration states that "efforts to stabilize Libya are now more important than ever, and the EU will do its utmost to contribute to that objective" and that "with hundreds having already lost their lives in 2017 and spring approaching, he EU isdetermined to take additional action to significantly reduce migratory flows along the Central Mediterranean route and break the business model of smugglers".

The plan

The plan includes increasing training and equipment for the Libyan coastguard, further efforts to block

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

routes, increasing assisted voluntary return activities, increasing EU involvement with countries near Libya, supporting local communities on migration routes and in coastal areas to improve their socio-economic situation. The declaration also declares the need to ensure "adequate reception capacities and conditions" in Libya for migrants in cooperation with the

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

and IOM. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

will mobilise an initial €200 million in additional funding for the implementation of the declaration.

References

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External links

Malta Declaration by the members of the European Council on the external aspects of migration: addressing the Central Mediterranean route
full declaration February 2017 in Europe Immigration to the European Union Declarations of the European Union 2017 in the European Union 2017 in Malta

The plan

See also

References

External links