Valletta Summit on Migration Yields Long-Term Plans, Exposes Short Term Worries

As Europe’s migrant crisis continues to develop, European Union officials recently turned their attention to African migration, which many officials claim poses a longer-term problem. A sense of urgency surrounded the emergency migration summit, which was held in Valletta, Malta from Nov. 11-13. The summit was first called in April 2015 after nearly 800 African migrants drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Malta. The EU is in a “race against time”--as described by European Council president Donald Tusk--to save the Schengen Zone, which allows free movement within the EU and whose survival hinges largely on the member states’ acceptance of uniform EU migration policies. Tusk and 66 heads of states in Europe and Africa thus met in Valletta to create plans that will promote cohesive EU immigration policy, curb the growing influx of refugees from Africa, and restore the Schengen Zone.

Leaders at the Valletta Summit outlined policy plans that will create an environment in Africa that is less conducive to emigration,  thus addressing the “root causes” of migration, according to a summit press release. The crux of the summit’s 16 actionable goals is about improving the home environment of would-be African migrants. The EU and several non-member European states plan to boost socio-economic development; improve health, education, and nutrition; prevent new conflicts; and “launch measures to prevent and counter radicalisation and violent extremism.” Existing mechanisms of the Rabat Process, the Khartoum Process, and the Joint EU-Africa Strategy will aid with the implementation and monitoring of these initiatives. European and African leaders predict that, as a result, migration to Europe will become less of an imperative for many Africans.

However, flagging European funding and a failure to enact a quick response plan are driving skepticism. On Nov. 12, a €1.8 billion emergency trust fund was pledged from EU coffers with a matching €1.8 billion to be voluntarily donated by member states. Of that voluntary €1.8 billion, only €78 million have been given, demonstrating the slow dissemination of Europe-wide plans that has come to define the migrant crisis. The fund just enacted lost its teeth, many EU officials feel, when member state participation was announced as voluntary rather than compulsory. These officials point to mounting populist pressure on state governments as preventing them from signing onto many Brussels-enacted measures.

Many critics of the summit say the plans--well-funded or not--are too long-term to aptly combat the crisis at hand. While most agree on the benefits of the plans, these critics feel that the summit’s touting of ambitious, long-term goals distracts from Europe’s inability to address the immediate needs of migrants and the nations where they land. The immediate needs in question revolve around concrete changes to how migrants can be distributed in Europe or deported back to their home countries. At the summit, sharp African response to any forceful migrant deportation measures caused the creation of only voluntary deportation rules, and hesitation from European and African leaders alike resulted in the summit’s focus on long-term, uncontroversial goals.

The Valletta Summit was characterized by many as a laborious, often hostile conference. To see the fifth, and certainly not last, emergency summit pass without serious measures taken to confront the most immediate migration issues is disheartening to many, including the leaders attempting to solve the crisis. Leaving the conference and voicing the sentiments of many European leaders, Tusk expressed measured concern: “We must hurry, but not panic.”