EU to tighten borders, boost ties with N. African countries on migrants

EU leaders are set Thursday to push ahead with plans to boost cooperation with North African countries and beef up the bloc’s borders in an effort to stop migrants entering Europe, AP reports. A draft statement prepared for their summit emphasizes the need to step up cooperation with countries that people leave and transit through to seek better lives in Europe. They said that work with those countries on “investigating, apprehending and prosecuting smugglers and traffickers should be intensified.” They also called for a joint smuggling task force to be set up. Over 1 million migrants entered Europe in 2015, most of them Syrians and Iraqis fleeing conflict. However, numbers have dropped significantly since the EU began outsourcing the challenge to Turkey. Ankara has been offered at least $3.4 billion, ostensibly in Syrian refugee aid, to stop people leaving there for Europe. The EU wants to reproduce that model elsewhere.