French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that France is playing its “role” in welcoming migrants, responding to Pope Francis in Marseille (southern) European leaders and how they are dealing with the migration issue. .
“The Pope is right to call for this campaign against neglect,” Macron said in a televised interview.
“We cannot accept the misery of the whole world,” he said, recalling the famous phrase of former Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rogard.
Commenting on the recent arrival of migrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa, Macron called for “Italians not to be left alone”, defending a European response based on “a harmonious approach with countries of origin and countries of transit”.
As for the countries of origin of the migrants, “Europeans must adapt our aid to a responsible immigration policy, and say that we help you with projects to give people economic opportunities, but you must help us to dismantle the networks. Lead these people.” out of their countries, especially to establish better cooperation for their return.”
As for the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, especially Tunisia, Macron hoped that Europe would recommend to these countries “to seek the help of surveys, experts and equipment (…) on their coasts to confront these traffickers”. A “respectful partnership”
He added, “This is what we are doing with the British. We agree to have British experts in Calais to help us dismantle the traffickers’ network, and we have achieved good results.”
Macron explained that he would offer the EU to “allocate more resources to transit countries and propose partnerships to these countries to avoid (migrant) outflows”.
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