On 6 July 2017, the Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, participated in the informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers (JHA) in Tallinn, Estonia.

Under the chairmanship of the Estonian Minister of the Interior, Andres Anvelt, the informal JHA meeting first allowed the ministers responsible for migration policy to analyse the situation in the central Mediterranean.

Minister Asselborn said in this context that "unilaterally closing internal borders is not the solution" and that "the EU must present itself with a truly common migration policy". Quoting Italy's considerable efforts in this area, Jean Asselborn has spoken out in favour of the provision of financial and human resources by the European Union to strengthen European capacities for reception and logistics to identify asylum seekers and organise the return of those who do not meet the requirements of the Geneva Convention.

Turning to Libya, the minister highlighted the “urgent need to expand development aid in Africa and to develop more opportunities for legal migration."

The ministers also had exchanged views on solidarity measures in the context of migration to recall the importance of adopting a balanced approach based on responsibility and solidarity to reform the common asylum system and that of Dublin in particular.

The common policy on returns was also a topic on the agenda of the informal meeting. The ministers discussed the various avenues to be addressed in order to make the European return system more efficient.

Photo by MAEE, L-R: Andres Anvelt, Estonian Minister of the Interior; Jean Asselborn, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Minister for Immigration and Asylum