Valletta Summit on Migration


The Valletta Summit on Migration, also called the Valletta Conference on Migration, was a summit held in Valletta, Malta, on 11–12 November 2015, in which European and African leaders discussed the European migrant crisis. The summit resulted in the EU setting up an Emergency Trust Fund to promote development in Africa, in return for African countries to help out in the crisis.
The summit was held at three venues in Valletta. The opening ceremony was held at Auberge de Castille, while the Mediterranean Conference Centre hosted the main conference. Fort Saint Elmo was used as a media centre. The summit was the largest one ever hosted in Malta, with around 4,000 people attending. The summit was held a few weeks before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2015, which was also held in Malta.

Background

The European migrant crisis began when large numbers of migrants and refugees from various countries came to the European Union and applied for asylum. The term "crisis" has been widely used since April 2015, when a number of boats carrying migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in the deaths of around 1,200 people. Following the shipwreck of 19 April, the European Council held a meeting to discuss the situation of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Among the decisions made during this meeting, EU leaders agreed to increase dialogue with the African Union and other countries involved in the migrant crisis by holding a summit in Valletta, Malta.
The summit was meant to include leaders of the countries of origin, transit or destination of the migrants. The heads of state and government of EU member states, the African Union Commission, the ECOWAS Commission, and states parties to the Khartoum and Rabat Processes were all invited to the summit, as were the Secretary-General of the United Nations and representatives from the International Organization for Migration.

The summit

The Valletta Summit began with an opening ceremony in front of Auberge de Castille, the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. A monument was unveiled for the occasion. After the ceremony was over, the leaders were transferred to the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
The summit itself began at 6:30 p.m. with a speech by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. On the first day, the leaders discussed a situation in which African countries would help to reduce migration across the Mediterranean, with the EU giving Africans better access to Europe in return. According to Muscat, the meeting was "less confrontational than expected".
On 12 November, the European and African leaders signed an agreement to set up an Emergency Trust Fund to help development in African countries as well as to encourage those countries to take back migrants who arrived in Europe. The fund pledged €1.8 billion in aid, with other development assistance of €20 billion every year. The leaders also pledged action to improve the situation in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Lake Chad and other parts of Africa to reduce the flow of refugees. They also promised to promote regular migration channels and implement policies for integrating migrants into society.
The summit ended with a Final Declaration and an Action Plan. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, said that the migrant crisis was a "race against time" to save the Schengen Agreement.

Aftermath

An informal summit of EU leaders was held just after the Valletta Summit ended. The key points discussed included the threat to the Schengen Area, securing Europe's external border and relations with Turkey.
In July 2016, Minister for Home Affairs and National Security Carmelo Abela announced that the Maltese government is planning a follow-up meeting to the Valletta Summit.

Participants

The leaders who took part in the Valletta Summit are listed in the table below. Sudan was represented by its foreign minister as President Omar al-Bashir could not travel to Malta due to an international arrest warrant. Poland was only represented by an undersecretary of state due to a clash with the first sitting of the country's new parliament.
MemberRepresented byTitle
Edi RamaPrime Minister
Abdelmalek SellalPrime Minister
Werner FaymannChancellor
Charles MichelPrime Minister
Thomas Boni YayiPresident
-Dragan CovicChairman of the Presidency
Ian KhamaPresident
Rosen Plevneliev President
Michel KafandoPresident
Pierre Nkurunziza President
Jorge Carlos FonsecaPresident
Daniel Emery DedeAmbassador to the European Union
Idriss DébyPresident
Jean-Claude GakossoMinister of Foreign Affairs
Alassane OuattaraPresident
Vesna PusićDeputy Prime Minister
Socrates ChasikosMinister for Interior
Milos ZemanPresident
Lars Løkke RasmussenPrime Minister
Hassan Omar Mohamed BourhanoMinister for Interior
Sameh ShoukryMinister for Foreign Affairs
Teodoro Obiang Nguema MbasogoPresident
Osman Saleh MohammedMinister for Foreign Affairs
Taavi RõivasPrime Minister
Hailemariam DesalegnPrime Minister
Sauli NiinistoPresident
François HollandePresident
Ali Bongo OndimbaPresident
Abdoulie JoseTrade Minister
Angela MerkelChancellor
John Dramani MahamaPresident
Alexis TsiprasPrime Minister
Alpha CondéPresident
Suzi Carla BarbosaMinister for Cooperation
Viktor OrbánPrime Minister
Sigmundur Davíð GunnlaugssonPrime Minister
Frances FitzgeraldMinister for Justice and Equality
Matteo RenziPrime Minister
Joseph Ole NkaisserySecretary General
Edgars RinkēvičsMinister for Foreign Affairs
Joseph BoakaiVice President
Abdourhman A. M. AlahirishDeputy Prime Minister
Dalia GrybauskaitėPresident
Xavier BettelPrime Minister
Ibrahim Boubacar KeïtaPresident
Joseph MuscatPrime Minister
Abdalla AhmedouMinister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
Albert IIPrince
Filip VujanovicPresident
Salaheddine MezouarMinister for Foreign Affairs
Mark RuttePrime Minister
Mahamadou IssoufouPresident
Abubakar Gusau MagajiMinister for Defence
Erna SolbergPrime Minister
Katarzyna KacperczykUndersecretary of State
Pedro Passos CoelhoPrime Minister
Klaus IohannisPresident
Paul KagamePresident of Rwanda
Macky SallPresident
Samura KamaraForeign Minister
Andrej KiskaPresident
Miro CerarPrime Minister
Omar Abdirashid Ali SharmarkePrime Minister
Salva Kiir MayarditPresident
Mariano RajoyPrime Minister
Ibrahim GhandourMinister of Foreign Affairs
Stefan LöfvenPrime Minister
Simonetta SommarugaPresident
Komlan Edo Robert DusseyMinister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration
Habib EssidPrime Minister
Recep Tayyip ErdoganPresident
David CameronPrime Minister

Monument

A monument commemorating the summit was erected in Valletta's Castille Square, which had just been refurbished. The monument is called The Knot, and it symbolizes unity between Europe and Africa, as well as Malta's geographic position between the two continents. The monument was designed by the artist Vince Briffa, and was carved from Carrara marble.