Every year thousands of African would-be immigrants clamber onto Spanish beaches, fleeing poverty and violence at home for what they hope is a brighter future in Europe. Thousands more wash ashore as corpses.
Foreign ministers and rep-resentatives from nearly 60 European and African countries were to meet yesterday in the Moroccan capital Rabat to tackle increasing illegal immigration to Europe and the chronic poverty in African countries that fuels it.
The talks are the first to bring together countries of origin, transit and destination, according to EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who will attend.
"Partnership between these countries is essential to achieve positive results in linking migration and development," she said in a statement.
Undaunted by tightened border controls and the treacherous seas that kill an estimated 40 percent of them, according to EU officials, African migrants have by some counts doubled their numbers since last year in an influx that worries European countries already grappling with high unemployment and racial tensions.
EU officials said European and African countries hope to agree on some 60 practical measures, including joint patrols in the Mediterranean, or off the West African coast, and expanding language training and education of potential legal immigrants prior to their departure for Europe.
They will also try to better coordinate action against poverty and conflicts, which are seen as the main forces behind the wave of emigrants heading for Europe.
The immigrants' swelling numbers and high death rate are "just a few examples of the consequences of a failing European policy," Liberal European Parliament member Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in Strasbourg last week. "Reinforcement of the external borders alone is simply not sufficient and it should not be the only thing to aim for."
Migrants' rights groups agree.
"[Europe] thinks about opening and closing borders," said Abdelhilal Belgacem, an activist with the Friends and Family of Clandestine Immigration Victims.
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