Migration to be prominent topic in 2014
EU leaders issued a call for “the mobilisation of all efforts” to implement 38 immediate steps to curb illegal migration and to prevent a repeat of a disaster in October that resulted in the deaths of more than 360 migrants off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
That endorsement of ideas produced by the European Commission, together with a promise to “return to the issue of asylum and migration in June 2014 in a broader and longer-term policy perspective”, ensured that migration will be a particularly prominent topic for policymakers this year.
Among the tasks identified, leaders said that “increased engagement with third countries…should be a priority”. Stopping boats from leaving the southern Mediterranean will, however, be challenging: in November, EU foreign ministers warned of a “significant deterioration of both the political and security situation” in Libya, a major starting-point for boats carrying migrants.
Click Here: All Blacks Rugby Jersey