Migrant ‘camps’ in N. Africa not on EU agenda – Juncker

A suggestion that the European Union might try to set up migrant camps in North Africa was no longer on the agenda, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday. “This is no longer on the agenda and never should have been,” Juncker told a news conference in Tunis with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed. EU member states are in disagreement over how the bloc should deal with tens of thousands of migrants arriving every year in Europe, the bulk of them by sea from Turkey and North Africa. In June, a summit of all EU leaders asked the Commission to study ways to set up “regional disembarkation platforms” in North African countries for migrants rescued by European vessels in the Mediterranean. However, EU officials have long questioned the legality and practicality of such camps, Reuters said.