MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th February, 2023) Better border protection and dialogue with migrants' countries of origin are a more efficient way to manage irregular migration than pushbacks to third countries, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
"I think what is at stake in the EU and the debate we will have is how to better protect our borders and how to better integrate people when they arrive and they want to stay here, for two main reasons � one, because they are fighters for freedom and are asking for asylum, and second, when they ask to work in our societies and contribute to our prosperity," Macron said upon arrival at the Special European Council in Brussels.
Macron added that the EU has to improve its dialogue with countries of origin.
"I think its much more efficient than trying to push back to third countries and having this type of approach," he said.
Some 330,000 people crossed into the EU illegally in 2022, which marked the highest number since 2016 and a 64% increase from the year prior, according to the EU border agency Frontex. Simultaneously, the number of asylum applicants roughly doubled to 924,000.
