Politics

EU urges resource mobilization to avoid irregular Afghan migrant wave

Brussels, Aug 31 (EFE).- The European Union needs to mobilize resources and work with Afghanistan’s neighboring countries in order to avoid an influx of irregular migrants into the bloc, European Commission vice president Margaritis Schinas said Tuesday.

“Together with international partners, the United Nations, the G7, the G20, we need to pool resources and try to build capacity and support closer to the problem,” Schinas added.

“It means we have to work with neighboring countries in Afghanistan, mobilize resources, mobilize expertise and try to help people closer to the problem so that we also minimize the possibility of smugglers producing big movement to our external border,” he explained.

The crisis in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have taken over Kabul earlier this month, can become a defining moment for Europe, according to the Greek politician.

He urged the European Union to have an “early agreement on a holistic, cohesive, comprehensive migration and asylum policy,” based on the proposals the Commission made in September last year.

Schinas also stressed the EU’s “duty to defend those who defended us in Afghanistan, those who stood for our values, those who are now under threat. The EU will not fall short of our obligations to help these people.”

Schinas’ comments come hours after the final withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, ending 20 years of war.EFE

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