VALLETTA, Nov 11 : European and African leaders gathered on Wednesday for talks on joint action on the migration crisis, as Slovenia became the latest EU member to act on its own by barricading its border.
EU chiefs plan to offer their African counterparts funds at a summit in Malta in exchange for help stemming a migrant influx generating political and economic headaches for governments across Europe. Germany was warned Wednesday that processing and absorbing unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers could cost its taxpayers 14 billion euros next year.
The Malta summit, a rare gathering of around 50 leaders from the two continents, is the newest prong in the European Union's quest for a joint strategy to deal with the biggest flow of refugees and migrants since World War II. But Slovenia's move underlined again the divisions within the 28-nation bloc over how to respond to the crisis.
Meanwhile, at least 18 migrants, including seven children, drowned on Wednesday when their flimsy boat sank off Turkey's Aegean coast while trying to reach Greece, the latest fatalities in Europe's refugee crisis.     ?AFP