“It’s a global problem. It’s not just a security problem for Italy,” said Iain Begg, a professor at the European Institute and co-director of the Dahrendorf Forum at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

EU leaders are meeting Thursday and Friday in Brussels for a two-day summit that will address key issues threatening to divide the bloc. The refugee crisis and divergent views on Europe’s migration policies are expected to top the agenda, having triggered division among member nations and within countries as well. 

Some European leaders perceive the migration issue as a security problem and are expected to propose methods for further tightening the borders by giving more funds to unstable countries and more training to coast guards. 

Italy’s new populist party has been particularly vocal about revising the current migration policies. However, Professor Begg suggested that the crisis is a global issue instead of merely a regional security threat.

“I think you are not going to do this through security. It has to be well beyond security. It has to be foreign policy. It has to be economic development policy for countries, which we don’t even think of in this context, like Nigeria – a major exporter for people who want to move to Europe. If you don’t get economic development in those areas, the pressure to migrate, especially of very young populations in those countries, will not go away,” he explained."

Pieter Cleppe, head of the Brussels Office of Open Europe, said he thinks a potential large-scale plan for creating “disembarkation centers” and refugee cities outside the European bloc will emerge after the summit.

“I don’t think you could do this in a modest manner. You need to do it big, because what are you going to do with the people that will be denied asylum? They will be stuck there. I think eventually if indeed the population of Africa will double and triple in the next few decades, you need to sort of create something like a refugee city where people can build a future,” he explained.

Professor Begg disagreed with this solution and reaffirmed his belief that economic development might be the only solution of migrants in the long term.

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9:30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10:30 a.m. (0230GMT).