Merkel in Egypt &Tunisia, Tackles Migrant Flows

Local Editor

Part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya, German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia Thursday.

Since the 2011 overthrow of Moammer Gadhafi, Libya lacked a national government, which made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for the 28-member EU on dangerous Mediterranean crossings.

Merkel, who faces elections in September, had been under intense pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in over one million migrants since 2015.

Her government urged the Maghreb states and Egypt to step up border controls and speed up repatriations of migrants whose asylum applications are rejected.

Merkel first heads to Egypt, where she will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, before holding talks Friday with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

She is joined by a business delegation that could sweeten the diplomacy with investments badly needed by both countries, which are grappling with sluggish economies, tourism slumps after internal turmoil and terrorist attacks, and high unemployment, especially among youths.

A major focus in Egypt and Tunisia will be on their troubled neighbor Libya, a largely lawless country that has porous desert borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan.

"Without a political stabilization of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for by far the most arrivals in Italy," Merkel said in her latest weekly podcast.

"Egypt, as a regional institution, as a regional power, plays a major role here, as do Algeria and Tunisia."

The trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by Merkel, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill.

Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, had also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving in the first place.

Merkel is under huge pressure at home to achieve results in an election year, as the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the national parliament for the first time.

Public fears in Germany had been heightened by several terrorist attacks last year -- especially the truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market on Dec. 19 that killed 12, an attack attributed to a Tunisian immigrant, Anis Amri.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team