Britain and Italy announced an agreement Sunday to combat illegal immigration from the Balkans and to eliminate human trafficking.
The two countries pledged at the same time to offer protection to people fleeing persecution.
In a joint article in The Observer newspaper, the prime ministers of Britain and Italy, Tony Blair and Giuliano Amato, said they would work for the introduction of tough European penalties by the summer to counter trafficking.
They also called for the appointment of an EU official to coordinate the work of experts working on immigration issues in member states.
In addition, assistance should be provided to associations seeking to facilitate the voluntary return of illegal immigrants to their homeland, the two said.
"Every day we hear the horrors illegal immigrants endure at the hands of the people traffickers. The catalogue of death in recent times speaks for itself," they wrote.
"In the first 10 months of 2000, more than 50,000 migrants are estimated to have passed through Bosnia en route to the West. Organized crime is involved in almost all of that migration," they said.
But the prime ministers cautioned against blanket opposition to immigration.
Britain and Italy "believe that the efficient control of frontiers and firm action against illegal immigration and human trafficking must be balanced by a debate about the benefits migration can bring," the two said.
"The debate should focus not only on the repression of criminal activity connected with immigration, but also on supporting appropriate opportunities, where in the economic and national interest, for legal migration into a diverse and tolerant society," they added -- LONDON (AFP)
