german ministry wants migrants returned to africa: report reuters, november 6, 2016 




the german interior ministry wants to stop migrants ever reaching europe<u+2019>s mediterranean coast by picking them up at sea and returning them to africa, the welt am sonntag newspaper reported on sunday. 




in what would be a huge shift for a country with one of the most generous asylum policies, the ministry says the european union should adopt an australian-style system under which migrants intercepted at sea are sent for processing at camps in third countries. 




<u+201c>the elimination of the prospect of reaching the european coast could convince migrants to avoid embarking on the life-threatening and costly journey in the first place,<u+201d> the paper quoted a ministry spokeswoman as saying. 




<u+201c>the goal must be to remove the basis for people-smuggling organizations and to save migrants from the life-threatening journey.<u+201d> 




the ministry<u+2019>s proposal calls for migrants picked up in the mediterranean<u+2013>most of whom set off from conflict-torn libya<u+2013>to be sent to tunisia, egypt or other north african states to apply for asylum from there. 




if their asylum applications are accepted, the migrants could then be transported safely to europe. 




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german ministry wants migrants returned to africa: report
henry wolff