The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday welcomed renewed commitments taken at this week's Senior Officials' Meeting on migration in Valletta, Malta, and called for the full inclusion of refugees in all migration-related EU actions.

"I am encouraged by the reiterated engagement taken by EU officials in Valetta to promote the principles of solidarity, shared responsibility and respect for international obligations in migration management," said Vincent Cochetel, Director of UNHCR's Europe Bureau.

"However, to ensure proper migration management, it is vital to recognize the mixed nature of migratory flows within the African continent and from the African continent to Europe and to provide differentiated responses," he said.

The Senior Officials' Meeting was organized in Malta on Wednesday and Thursday to follow-up to last year's Valletta Summit on Migration.

During the two-day meeting, delegations from across Europe and Africa have engaged in constructive dialogue, taking stock of progress made under the principles of the Joint Valletta Action Plan, leading to the endorsement of a set of joint conclusions which represent a political reaffirmation of our commitment to both the spirit and the letter of the Joint Valletta Action Plan.

The Joint Valletta Action Plan, adopted at the Valletta Summit in 2015, enhanced cooperation between African and European partners and provided a framework for humane, sustainable management of migration on both sides of the Mediterranean.

"The commitment taken at the Senior Officials' Meeting to further promote legal migration is positive, but it must promptly be translated into reality, with a rapid increase in safe and legal pathways to Europe," Cochetel said.

The UN official also called for a dialogue on child protection to help find practical solutions to the plight of unaccompanied and separated children, including through identification, family tracing, family reunion and reintegration.

source: Xinhua