The EU needs a comprehensive and long-term migration policy in cooperation with African countries in order to tackle the refugee crisis, European Parliament President Martin Schulz has said.

"Let us stop patching up short-term solutions and instead come up with a comprehensive, long-term migration policy together with our African partners,” Schulz said at the Maltese Parliament on Tuesday ahead of the Valletta summit on migration organised by the European Council.

The conference will build on existing cooperation processes between Europe and Africa, particularly the Rabat and Khartoum processes on migration and the EU-Africa Dialogue on Migration and Mobility.

Schulz called for investing in development, supporting good governance, resolving conflicts, creating legal avenues for migration and boosting African economies through trade.

“Our strategy can never consist of fighting migrants,” the EP President said. “Our strategy must consist of fighting the root causes of migration: conflict and poverty.”

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