Backgrounder: EU Valletta summit aims to seek grassroots resolution to migration crisis

Leaders of the European Union (EU) and its member states will hold a summit with their African partners here to address root causes of the continent's migrant crisis on Wednesday and Thursday. Following are basic facts of the summit and European migrant crisis.

-- THE VALLETTA SUMMIT TO TACKLE ROOT CAUSE OF MIGRANTS

The Valletta summit is expected to bring together 60 more European and African leader in a bid to enhance cooperation on migration, an idea dated back to April in which some 700 migrants perished when a packed ship capsized in international waters south of Italy's Sicily, urging immediate action from the bloc.

During a European Council meeting following the tragedy, the EU's 28 member states agreed on a 10-point action plan to prevent irregular migration flows. They later decided to step up dialogue with the African Union and key countries, including through the holding of an ad hoc summit in Valletta.

"The Valletta summit is expected to address the root causes of migration by working to help create peace, stability and economic development in the countries of origin and transit. This will entail efforts to support job creation, education and vocational training," said a statement published on Monday by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

A major outcome of the summit is expected to be the establishment of an emergency trust fund for Africa, which is set to be signed on Thursday, will receive 1.8 billion euros (1.9 U.S. dollars) from the commission and await extraordinary contribution from member states.

A senior EU official said Europe will also promise to double scholarship for African students and academics next year. Meanwhile, leaders are supported to work on promoting legal migration, tackling trafficking and increasing search and rescue efforts to prevent further loss of life at sea.

The EU is also reported to be keen to return more migrants to Africa, however, a bargain is all but certain as their African counterparts are reluctant to take back nationals to avoid losing large numbers of remittances.

-- REFUGEES IN EUROPE

Europe is experiencing the most severe refugee crisis since the Second World War. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), arrivals of migrants and refugees to Europe by sea in 2015 approached 800,000 through the first week of November, a figure that amounts to nearly four times the total for all of 2014.

The bulk of them have landed in Greece and Italy. According to the bloc's border agency Frontex, more than 540 000 migrants have arrived on the Greek islands in the first ten months of the year, which was 13 times more than in the same period of 2014.

IOM estimates that over 200,000 migrants arrived in Greece by sea in October. During the month, deaths at sea have also risen sharply. Last week there were seven fatal shipwrecks. The Hellenic Coast Guard says that during October it recovered 106 bodies, but many more are reported missing.

For Italy, there has been over 141,700 arrivals from the beginning of this year. The largest nationality group at the end of October was from Eritrea (37,796), followed by Nigeria (19,576), Somalia (11,020), Sudan (8,692) and Syria (7,232).

After their arrivals in the Greece or Italy, migrants or refugees intended to approach western or northern European countries such as Germany and Swede, which are viewed as ideal destinations as they provide favorable society supporting for refugees.

-- CAUSES OF EUROPE'S REFUGEE CRISIS

Among other factors, the refugee crisis is mainly the making of some European countries and the United States through direct or indirect military interfering in other countries' affairs.

Most of refugees are from war-torn countries like Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq, where violence has been raging after Western intervention in their domestic affairs.

Their volatile situation has been compounded by widespread unemployment, inflation, a lack of daily necessities such as electricity and water, and a strong sense of insecurity.

People living in those countries hope to take refuge in neighboring countries or European countries for a better life.

Take Syria as an example. According to the UNHCR, an escalation of violence in Syria over the last few months together with a continued deterioration of living standards is continuing to drive thousands to flee their homes.

Violent conflicts between government troops and West-supported opposition forces have shown no sign of ending though they have lasted for years. The West has been pushing for a change of regime in the Middle East country. Endit