Eighteen migrants-including seven children-drowned off Turkey’s western coast of Canakkale on Wednesday when a boat carrying them to the Greek Island of Lesbos sank, AFP has reported. The Coast Guard was able to rescue 27 people from the stricken vessel.
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The European Commission is setting up a €1.8bn “trust fund” for Africa and has urged member states to match that sum. European Union interior ministers faced mounting pressure to deliver on their promises for tackling the migration crisis as they met to prepare the ground for a summit with African leaders.
In exchange, African leaders are likely insist on a much clearer path for smaller numbers of their citizens to migrate officially to Europe, reports the BBC’s Chris Morris in Malta.
Turkey has surpassed North Africa as the main launching point for migrants heading to Europe, and now hosts more than 2.2 million refugees from the war in neighboring Syria.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said last week up to 600,000 migrants and refugees were expected to cross from Turkey to Greece and onwards over the next four months despite the onset of winter.
“They are leaving their homes and taking desperate measures to try and find somewhere they can make a life”, he said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said: “The Dublin system is dead”.
A man holds a girl after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the Skala Sikaminias village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos on Wednesday, November 11, 2015.
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Croatia criticised the Slovenian fence, saying it would be better to spend money on preparing reception centres for migrants.
