EU steps up efforts to fight illegal immigration

Migrants gather around a fire, in woodland where they camp near the harbour of Calais, northern France. The borders of Europe may be expanding but thousands of migrants continue to smuggle themselves across the whole of Europe.

A top EU official has warned that the European Union will soon be facing massive arrivals of illegal immigrants. EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini urged member states at a two-day meeting of EU justice and interior minister in Dresden, Germany, which ended on Tuesday, to step up cooperation in cross-border controls and data exchange to handle the influx of would-be migrants.

About half a million illegal immigrants enter Europe each year. Some countries, like Spain, Italy and Malta, are seriously strained by the influx. That's why, following Germany's lead as the current head of the EU's rotating presidency, member states are looking to tighten their border controls and moving to have illegal immigrants sent back to their home countries. At their meeting in Dresden, Europe's interior ministers agreed to establish bilateral repatriation accords with African countries, like Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, whose nationals often make the perilous journey to Europe illegally in rickety boats.

An migrant shaves his beard in woodland where he camps with other refugees near the harbour of Calais, northern France.

At the same time, the ministers are looking to regulate the flow of those migrants who do arrive. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said the aim was to encourage people to come to Europe to work, for example in the tourism or farm industries, but then to return home.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he backed the scheme because if the countries in question are going to help stem the flow of illegal immigration you have to give something in return.

He noted that the German government, for example, spends 140 million euros a year for special language and civics courses for foreigners. Minister Schäuble stressed, however, that although the state must offer immigrants a perspective, these new arrivals have an obligation to adapt to European culture:

A model sports a design by Antonio Miro during the Pasarela de Barcelona fashion show in Barcelona, Spain. Spanish fashion designer Antonio Miro caused a stir this week after he used African immigrants, some of them illegal, as models at the Barcelona fashion show.

"Successful integration is not something accidental. It requires that immigrants adapt. If you want to live here, you must be prepared to pursue your own integration."

In other decisions, a large majority of interior ministers voiced support for a proposal to share DNA and fingerprint data to fight crime and terrorism. They also agreed to consider action against the sale of violent and degrading video games to minors. The EU ministers suggested a voluntary code of conduct which would include age restrictions and parental advisory warnings. The debate on banning so-called "killer games" has been fueled in Germany by an incident last November in which an 18-year-old computer game addict shot and wounded 11 students at his school before killing himself. Other issues discussed at the two-day conference were efforts to combat cyber crime and child pornography.