U.N., EU to study migration and refugees

GENEVA, Switzerland, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The U.N. refugee agency and the European Commission are gathering information on asylum seekers and migration across North Africa into Europe.

"This project is an important and, in many ways, pioneering initiative for the refugee agency," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva. "It is a first step towards understanding the link between transit migration and refugees and creating a protection space for asylum seekers while they are in transit."

The problem raises new challenges and the agency said it was increasingly concerned that, in an effort to combat illegal migration, EU countries tend to overlook the needs of refugees mixed in with illegal migrants.

Because the refugee dimension of transit migration has so far been largely ignored, comparatively little is known about the number of potential refugees involved, resulting in the need for the joint study.

UNHCR will seek testimony from asylum seekers in southern European nations, such as Italy, Spain and Malta, which are first ports of call for thousands of people transiting from Africa. It will also talk with asylum seekers and migrants in North Africa, with interviews already planned in Mauritania.