The more salient aspect of the Valletta Summit was the creation of an emergency trust fund by the EU to tackle the migration crisis.

The European Commission has set aside €1.8 billion, which is topped up by €78 million in direct contributions from member states.

The size of the fund has been criticised by humanitarian organisations.

More worrying for people like Karl Schembri from the Norwegian Refugee Council is the fact that the little funds available will not all go to finance development projects in Africa.

The trust fund will also be used to finance repatriations of migrants who do not warrant protection.

More legal channels for migration requested by African states in return for greater cooperation on repatriations, were whittled down to exchange programmes for students and academics. Places on the Erasmus Plus programme will be doubled and more opportunities for African researchers will be offered.

The plans foresees the creation of a joint investigation team in Niger against migrant smuggling and trafficking.

European and African countries agreed on unspecified measures to prevent and counter radicalisation and violent extremism by taking into account the Moroccan experience regarding the education of imams.