Europe needs migrant deals with Egypt and Tunisia, says Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the European Union needs to establish migrant deals with Egypt and Tunisia, along the lines of the agreement it already has with Turkey. According to a report by Reuters, she added that the existence of similar deals such as that with Turkey is important to prevent illegal immigration.

Merkel made her comments during a tourism conference in Berlin. She added that more must be spent on development aid to deal with the root causes of migration.

This would also mean turning illegal migrants in Aegean Sea back in return for accepting “batches of legal refugees”. This, she said, is the mechanism that should be applied with Egypt and Tunisia.

The EU and Turkey agreed in March that Ankara would stem the flow of illegal migrants to Europe in exchange for financial aid and the promise of visa-free travel for its citizens.