Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/782193
4 A pushback plan for the JURGEN BALZAN MIGRATION, Trump and Brexit dominated the largely forgettable EU summit in Malta and although it is yet to be seen whether any of the agreed-upon measures can be implemented, many EU leaders went back home hoping that their polling numbers improved. In a matter of months, the rise of far-right and populist parties has transformed Europe's debate from managing migration to keeping people away. At the end of the one–day meet- ing in Valletta, EU leaders agreed on a number of measures to stem the flow of asylum seekers in the Central Mediterranean route, in- cluding the proposal to block mi- grants at sea. The plan however hinges on cooperation with Libya, which remains engulfed in chaos, with three governments and several mi- litias vying for control of the North African country's vast territory. The final declaration by EU leaders seeks to replicate the deal struck with Turkey last year, which has halted most migrant cross- ings of the Eastern Mediterranean on the so-called Western Balkan route to Greece. The EU-Libya deal is set to be based on the agreement signed between Italy and the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. The agreement signed just before the Malta summit is the "one first decent shot at trying to get proper management of migratory flows in the Central Mediterranean" route, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said. In a nutshell, the Italians will supply cash and training resources for the Libyans to stop the depar- ture of migrant boats. But despite all the talk of "saving lives at sea, breaking the business model of smugglers and traffick- ers, and improving living condi- tions and reception capacities in and around Libya," the situation in Libya is anything but stable and implementing the measures will be prove to be a gargantuan task. The EU wants to pay local com- munities around Libyan borders and smuggling hotspots to stop transporting migrants across the desert or to sea; and after stop- ping the crossings, it hopes that Libya – notorious for its violence towards sub-Saharan Africans and migrants – will process asylum claims. Until a few months ago, smug- glers were operating freely from Agadez in Niger, where they picked up their human cargo in broad daylight to cross over into Libya. Here even police and sol- ders are reliant on smuggling. But Niger is now one of the EU's five 'priority partnership coun- tries', expecting some €610 million in development aid. It also hosts an EU Common Security and De- fence Policy (CSDP) field office in Agadez, which provides local se- curity forces with equipment and training. In November, the IOM – which monitors the transit in Agadez – saw the traffic drop from 72,000 in May 2016, to 12,000 in November. This was the kind of "concrete pro- gress" the EU was waiting for. But the real result was that mi- grants and smugglers were choos- ing alternatives to the routes: some more dangerous, leading to new anecdotal evidence of increased deaths in the desert. Now, by going ahead with the Malta plan, the EU leaders have all but declared Libya a safe third country. As the UNHCR rightly pointed out this week, limiting departures from the Libyan coast simply means accepting and legitimising the human suffering prevailing in Libya and pushing people back to conditions where migrants suffer arbitrary detention, torture, ill- treatment, unlawful killings, traf- ficking and enforced disappear- ance. In the final declaration, EU lead- ers said they will seek "to ensure adequate reception capacities and conditions in Libya for migrants," together with the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Mi- gration (IOM). However, hours before the EU leaders adopted Malta's proposals, the UNHCR and IOM warned that "it is not appropriate to consider Libya a safe third country nor to establish extraterritorial process- ing of asylum-seekers in North Africa." EU leaders forged ahead in full knowledge that the deal with Lib- ya – which effectively attempts to make block people at sea and push the EU border down to Libya's shores – is nothing but wishful maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2017 News Populists have set the EU's migration agenda: the Malta summit tried to outbid Europe's rising populists with a plan to block migration Member State Year of election Bulgaria 2017 Czech Republic 2017 France 2017 Germany 2017 Italy 2017 Netherlands 2017 Austria 2018 Cyprus 2018 Hungary 2018 Latvia 2018 Malta 2018 Slovenia 2018 Sweden 2018 Belgium 2019 Denmark 2019 Estonia 2019 Finland 2019 Greece 2019 Lithuania 2019 Luxembourg 2019 Poland 2019 Portugal 2019 Romania 2019 Croatia 2020 Slovakia 2020 Spain 2020 UK 2020 Ireland 2021 Making the sea crossing: EU leaders in Malta earlier this week cross the Grand Harbour during a summit in which they discussed migration. From left: Klaus Iohannis of Romania, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EC president Jean-Claude Juncker, French president Francois Hollande, and Luxembourg and Belgian prime ministers Xavier Bettel and Charles Michel