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A30 world news
Diasabra 22 Januari 2022

EU nations urge stronger borders to ease migration pressures

security bodies like Europol “We have to prevent people minister of migration and
and Frontex, the EU’s border from departing on smuggling asylum, which faces heavy
agency, also joined the talks. routes and to swiftly return migrant pressures on its sea
people to the country of ori- borders and on its land bor-
The ministers described the gin when they have no right der with Turkey, said the cur-
influx of migrants as dramat- to stay. We can do much more rent system is not working.
ic and urged swift actions, in- on returns if we establish a
cluding reinforcing the EU’s European return system. But “If people have the right to
borders and cracking down I need your support to do arrive in any European mem-
on people smugglers to pro- that,” Johansson told the par- ber state without any papers
tect both EU citizens and the ticipants. and without due process,
lives of migrants and refugees then the whole Schengen
from the Middle East, Africa She said she will discuss the code, the whole Schengen
and Asia who undertake haz- plan in more detail at a min- visa system, is meaningless,”
ardous journeys to reach Eu- isterial meeting in France Mitarachi said.
rope. next month.
Polish Interior Minister
“We must protect our bor- “We can’t wait until we have Mariusz Kaminski called for
ders from aggression, and we desperate migrants at our amendments to EU migra-
need to protect our people,” borders. We need to act soon- tion laws. Poland and the
Johansson told more than 30 er,” Johansson said, stress- Baltic states of Estonia, Lat-
officials at the conference. ing that preventative actions via, and Lithuania have seen
must respect the rights of in- a wave of migrants trying to
(AP) — Ministers from Eu- countries including Greece, Doing that, she said, requires dividuals to seek asylum. cross illegally into the EU
ropean Union nations under Poland, Italy, Austria and stopping people who are flee- from Belarus, encouraged
pressure from unauthorized France — which current- ing poverty and conflicts in She stressed that all EU na- by that nation’s authoritarian
border crossings asked Friday ly holds the EU’s rotat- their home countries from tions should “systematically president.
for more action to strengthen ing presidency — as well as starting out on dangerous check travelers against the
and protect the bloc’s ex- nonaligned Switzerland and migration routes. But she relevant databases at entry Poland is about to start build-
ternal borders as well as for Norway, attended a border also stressed the need for a and exit of the (bloc’s inter- ing a tall, permanent metal
rules to return migrants to security conference in Lithu- new European system for nal visa free) Schengen area,” wall with electronic surveil-
their homelands or where ania’s capital of Vilnius. Eu- returning migrants to their and called for strengthening lance systems along its land
they started their journeys. ropean Home Affairs Com- homelands if they have no Frontex. border with Belarus to pre-
missioner Ylva Johansson permission to stay in the EU. vent unauthorized entries.
Interior ministers from EU and the heads of European Notis Mitarachi, Greece’s

Nigeria extremists still ‘very dangerous,’ says UN official

(AP) — The Islamic ex- Boko Haram, Nigeria’s The faction allied with the people displaced and to those munities over access to water
tremist insurgency in homegrown Islamic extrem- Islamic State group this week who remain at their homes and grazing land.
northeast Nigeria is a ist rebels, launched an insur- released a video showing but are vulnerable to attacks.
“very, very dangerous gency in the country’s north- dozens of child fighters train- Nigerian officials “under- Nigeria’s fight against ex-
(and) very threatening” east in 2009, to fight against ing in open fields and being stand this is not a quick fix,” tremists “can’t be won on the
crisis that needs more western education and to es- taught in classrooms. The said Griffiths after meetings battlefield,” said the U.N. of-
than $1 billion in aid in tablish Islamic Shariah law in video is a “clear” message with government authorities. ficial, who urged more com-
2022 to assist those hit Nigeria. that the extremists “are here munity development efforts.
by the decade-long con- to stay” and “a new genera- Beyond the northeast, the
flict, United Nations hu- Their rebellion has spread tion is coming,” according to northwest and central parts “You win civil wars in the
manitarian chief Martin over the years to the neigh- Vincent Foucher of the Inter- of Nigeria are experiencing minds of the people who live
Griffiths said. boring West African coun- national Crisis Group. violent attacks carried out by there,” said Griffiths. “If you
tries of Cameroon, Niger and armed groups who had tradi- don’t have the communities
In an interview with The As- Chad. Boko Haram drew in- Nigeria’s security forces have tionally worked as nomadic on your side, it doesn’t really
sociated Press, Griffiths, head ternational condemnation in also beefed up their air capac- cattle herders and are caught matter how much else you’ve
of the U.N. Office for the 2014 when they abducted 276 ity “which means it is dif- up in a decades-long conflict got on your side. You won’t
Coordination of Humanitar- schoolgirls in Chibok village, ficult for (the Islamic State with Hausa farming com- make peace.”
ian Affairs, urged the world prompting the #BringBack- offshoot) to get away with
not to forget the continuing OurGirls campaign. More the large attacks it carried
devastation caused by Boko than 100 of those abducted out two or three years ago,”
Haram and its offshoot, the students are still missing. Foucher added.
Islamic State West Africa
Province, together blamed The conflict has resulted in The U.N. humanitarian
for killing tens of thousands approximately 35,000 deaths, chief said it’s not clear when
of residents and displacing according to the U.N. Devel- displaced populations will be
millions. opment Program. For each able to return to their homes,
casualty, “an additional nine although it is a crucial goal
“This is a very different kind people, primarily children, so that people are given hope
of operation and very dif- have lost their lives due to “that maybe it’s not an indefi-
ficult also to deter ... a grave lack of food and resources,” nite exile from their villages.”
and clear and present danger, the U.N. agency estimated in
obviously, to the people and a a report in June last year. For 2022, the U.N. estimates
priority for the government,” Nigeria’s northeast will need
Griffiths said in Abuja, Ni- Nigeria’s military continues development assistance of
geria’s capital. “The world to try to quell the violence more than $1 billion in ad-
needs to remember this is a especially in northeastern dition to government spend-
tragedy that needs to be sort- Borno state and the Lake ing, he said. The funds are
ed out.” Chad region, but the conflict needed to provide food and
has continued year after year. healthcare to the millions of