EU’s $1.9bn fund to tackle African migration ‘not enough’

Senegal’s President Macky Sall has described a $1.9bn (£1.2bn) European fund set up to tackle irregular migration as a good beginning but said more money was needed. It was one of several measures European and African leaders have agreed to reduce the flow of people into Europe. The leaders said their aim is to “address […]

Senegal’s President Macky Sall has described a $1.9bn (£1.2bn) European fund set up to tackle irregular migration as a good beginning but said more money was needed.
It was one of several measures European and African leaders have agreed to reduce the flow of people into Europe.
The leaders said their aim is to “address the root causes of migration”.
The Europe-Africa meeting was planned after around 800 migrants died when their boat sank off Libya in April.
President Sall, who also currently heads the West African regional group Ecowas, told journalists on the sidelines of the summit that the money pledged was “not enough for the whole of Africa”.
But later, at the closing press conference, he said he was pleased with the trust fund, but said he would like to see it “more generously financed”.
Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou echoed the Senegalese president’s sentiments.
EU Council President Donald Tusk said the summit had agreed “a long list of very concrete actions to be implemented by the end of 2016”.
These include setting up a joint European and African team in Niger to tackle people smuggling and increasing the number of visas available to students and researchers.