EU to unveil Africa migrant plan as deaths surge

Strasbourg, France: The EU was unveiling fresh plans on Tuesday to stem the flow of migrants from Africa following a surge of deaths, in a new phase of the crisis after striking a deal with Turkey.

Hundreds of people have drowned in recent weeks while making the dangerous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe, with most of the boats coming from lawless Libya.

European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini are set to unveil the plan at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

It involves using EU funds to promote private investment in the African countries from which most migrants are coming.

The aim is to boost their economies so that they will not try to come to Europe, according to a parliament document.

The Commission also wants to speed up readmission deals with African countries and with Pakistan and Afghanistan to make it easier to send back migrants who do not win refugee status.

It further wants to promote legal migrations to Europe through applications in home countries, with the aim of preventing people from boarding flimsy boats to try to sneak into the continent.

The Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU, is trying to prepare the ground for a summit of EU leaders at the end of June where they are expected to take a series of decisions on the migration crisis.

Many of the proposals were first aired at a summit of EU and African leaders in Valetta, Malta, last year when the EU put 1.8 billion dollars on the table for working with African countries to curb migration through employment projects and border controls.

More than 2,500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean so far this year as Europe battles its worst migration crisis since the Second World War.

The vast majority have died on crossings between Libya and Italy, as a controversial March deal between the EU and Turkey designed to halt the flow of largely Syrian refugees using the popular Aegean route has led to a sharp drop in arrivals.

Last week Libyan authorities said they had found the bodies of more than 100 migrants washed ashore after three boats capsized off the coast.

Separately hundreds were left missing after a boat believed to have come from Africa sank off the Greek island of Crete.

Some 204,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe since January, the United Nations refugee agency said last week.

More than one million migrants made the journey to Europe in 2015, with the majority fleeing war in Syria and the Middle East.