Greek Prime Minister Urges More Cooperation From Africa On Illegal Migrants' Return

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2022) African countries should be more cooperative in facilitating migrants, who were not fleeing war and not allowed asylum status in Europe, in returning to their home countries, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday.

"I would like to emphasize that African countries should be more cooperative on the issue of those who do not have the right to reside on the EU territory returning, those who are not fleeing wars and prosecution, those who are not allowed asylum status. They need to be encouraged and facilitated in returning to their own countries," Mitsotakis said while addressing the "Talking Africa-Europe" online debate on migration and mobility, ahead of the upcoming Africa-Europe summit scheduled to take place in February.

At the same time, the Greek prime minister emphasized the need to provide sufficient legal opportunities to organize migration from Africa for work and study, as well as broader access to digital skills and technologies on the continent itself which would allow young Africans to participate directly in the European labor market without leaving their home countries.

"The EU can and should offer legal migration and work opportunities. For example, in Greece, there is a shortage of agricultural workers. Why not put in place organized programs to bring workers from Africa to serve that need which we clearly have," Mitsotakis stated while noting the role of demography in shaping future relations between the sides.

Mitsotakis added that more efforts need to be made by engaging stakeholders on all sides to work toward eliminating networks of traffickers and addressing different trafficking models.

"We all need to be more effective on border protection and combating networks of traffickers. This is something that we have done. Countries have the right to protect their borders," Mitsotakis emphasized.

The upcoming EU-Africa summit is scheduled to be held in Brussels from February 17-18.

In recent years the EU, and especially southern Europe, has been struggling with a migration crisis as people from Africa and the middle East, fleeing poverty and war, try to cross the Mediterranean and reach the continent.