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Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa
Published: Friday September 29, 2006

Madrid- Foreign and interior ministers from eight European Union Mediterranean countries were gathering Friday in Madrid to boost the protection of the union's southern maritime frontier against the mounting influx of illegal immigrants from Africa. The meeting followed an urgent appeal from Spain after the arrival of some 23,000 Africans in the Canary Islands this year, bringing reception structures near collapse.

Participants included Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and a representative of the Finnish EU presidency.

The countries were expected to prepare proposals for the October 20 informal EU summit in the Finnish city of Lahti, including the reinforcement of the European border control agency Frontex, which has only been able to stage small-scale patrols on the Mediterranean and off West Africa.

Spain was expected to propose a European frontier police and coast guard, while French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy intended to push for a sweeping expansion of EU powers over immigration, including a ban on mass amnesties and a common EU asylum office.

Spain's appeals for help have the backing of other southern European countries such as Italy, Malta and Greece, which are also receiving immigrants from Africa and Turkey. Italian coastal patrols have intercepted at least 16,000 illegals this year, according to government figures.

Yet other European countries, such as France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, are reluctant to answer Spain's request for financial aid, accusing Madrid of partially creating its immigration problem by granting massive amnesties to illegals.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government granted residence permits to more than half a million undocumented immigrants last year.

Senegal, where most of the African immigrants to Spain come from, has also criticized the Spanish legislation for encouraging illegal immigration.

Planned EU patrols to intercept immigrant boats have got off to a modest start, with mainly just Spain, Portugal and Italy contributing some boats and a few airplanes to Frontex for the purpose.

The Mediterranean countries meeting in Madrid want the EU to dedicate a substantial part of its 2007-2013 frontier control budget of 1.8 billion euros (2.3 billion dollars) to the southern border.

The countries will also call for readmission agreements with immigrants' countries of origin, more cooperation with them to discourage their citizens from leaving, and technical assistance to countries of transit.

Spain has repatriated more than 1,000 Senegalese in the past few weeks, and intends to expel 1,200 more, but many African countries are reluctant to accept repatriations because of their unpopularity.

Sarkozy, one of the most vocal advocates of tougher immigration policies, is seeking a European immigration pact banning massive amnesties and a European asylym office handling applications according to common EU rules.

Spain, France, Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia wrote to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso prior to the meeting, stressing that the problem of illegal immigration was too big for any country to handle alone.

Spain has pointed out that most of the Africans arriving in the Canaries are French-speakers travelling to other European countries.

More migrants meanwhile continued arriving in the Canary Islands, with a total of around 120 landing on Tenerife and Lanzarote on Friday.

Africans make up a relatively small part of an estimated one million undocumented immigrants in Spain, but they are attracting the most attention because of their dangerous sea journeys of more than 1,000 kilometres from Senegal or Guinea-Bissau.

Immigrants boats frequently capsize, and up to 3,000 migrants are estimated to have drowned this year.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa