The EU Commissioner for Foreign Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, called for a joint European migration and asylum policy in her opening speech at talks in the European Alpbach Forum late Sunday, according to dpa. Her remarks came in the wake of recent influxes of refugees and immigrants to Europe particularly from Africa. She demanded improved international police cooperation and tougher measures for dealing with people traffickers and a "taskforce for crises at the borders". Apart from a joint migration and asylum policy, Europe also needed a more open debate on the integration of migrants, she added. While Europe needed immigrants to secure its wealth, migrants could show "a stronger commitment to the universal and liberal fundament of values of our societies", Ferrero-Waldner demanded.
