EU leaders met with their Afghan counterparts yesterday (27 March) as part of the second meeting of the Joint Working Group established to facilitate the implementation of the Joint Way Forward on migration issues. The meeting, which is a continuation of the existing dialogue, reinforced the need to work together on the migration issues including smuggling and human trafficking, as well as awareness campaigns aiming to reframe debates on refugees and collaboration on information dissemination.
The EU brought up its initiative to strengthen law enforcement cooperation to better address migrant smuggling through the joint work of law enforcement authorities from around the EU on the one hand and law enforcement authorities in Afghanistan on the other. Both parties have also reiterated their common objective to ensure a safe, manageable and predictable return process of the Afghan illegal migrants in the EU, who have no right to stay in the bloc. Reintegration assistance and reintegration of communities were important subjects of discussion as well.
The European Union has a long-term partnership with Afghanistan. The EU is engaged with Afghanistan’s international partners to fight corruption, improve oversight, enable economic growth, reduce poverty and strengthen democratic institutions. The European Union and its member states pledged €5 billion out of a total €13.6 billion in support for the 2016-2020 period.
