Mr. Michael Gaffey:

Indeed. Deputy Neville raised exactly that point, that what we are seeing at the moment in the migration crisis in the Mediterranean is multidimensional. It is sometimes presented simply as a question of how we can cope with the migrants landing or how can we save them from the appallingly crowded boats and the traffickers. We have to see it in a much broader context because initially when people asked who all the people were arriving from North Africa it turned out that most of the people are from places such as Somalia, Eritrea and west Africa. When we look at where much of our emergency assistance and long-term development assistance is going, it is going to the countries where those people are originating from.

In the sustainable development goals, SDGs, there is also an attempt to take that much more comprehensive approach whereby we do not just look at a problem when it presents itself literally on our doorsteps. I emphasise the role of long-term development. Sometimes there is a tendency to say the needs are greatest in emergency situations and that one needs to put one’s money there, but it is all linked. Long-term development strategies owned by governments themselves are the only way to really tackle migration flows.

Some migration is inevitable and is a natural human phenomenon and it can be of benefit both to the people migrating and to the societies in which they settle. However, what we are seeing at the moment is mainly the result of conflict and under-development. Eritrea is a difficult country in which to operate. We have had great success with our partners in neighbouring Ethiopia in helping them to build up society and neighbouring Eritrea is the source of so many of the people on those boats in the Mediterranean. If one happens to google Eritrea at any point over the last year, all one finds is endless cases of people dying trying to leave the country and dying in the Mediterranean Sea, which is our European sea. What it really highlights to us is the importance of this integrated approach to emergency humanitarian assistance and long-term development and then policy on migration. None of them can be taken alone. That is another example of an area we might not have considered two years ago for a whole-of-government policy and policy coherence for development.