Delegates release plan to stem illegal migrants

? Delegates from 58 countries promised Tuesday to combine tougher immigration enforcement with more aid for Africans to help stem a rising tide of illegal migration to Europe.

The plan released by African and European delegates at the end of a two-day meeting on immigration includes proposals for short-term work visas, grants to migrants in Europe to start businesses back home and funding for job creation in regions with high emigration.

It proposes international cooperation on enforcement of immigration laws, along with making it easier for legal migrants to Europe to send money home to Africa, stimulating the local economy.

The plan is non-binding, vague on funding and it wasn’t clear how much of the plan would ever be enacted – weaknesses that prompted European Union Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner France Frattini to call for a task force to monitor whether countries follow through.