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TUNIS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to press Tunisian leaders to step up efforts to help curb an influx of illegal migrants to her country during a visit on Friday. Her two-day trip, which also included a stop in Egypt, comes with Germany still reeling from several jihadist attacks, including a truck rampage by a Tunisian suspect at a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. Merkel's talks with top officials including President Beji Caid Essebsi are expected to include ways to tackle years of instability exploited by people smugglers in neighbouring Libya. The visit is also a chance for Merkel to pledge support for a country often hailed as a rare success story of the Arab Spring uprisings that shook the region and toppled autocrats including longtime Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia has passed a new constitution and held free parliamentary and presidential elections. But the nation faces high unemployment, social tensions and the threat from jihadists who have killed dozens of soldiers and police as well as civilians including 59 foreign tourists. Merkel, who faces elections in September, is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to Germany, which has taken in more than one million migrants since 2015. "There are routes for illegal immigration from Libya to Germany. We have a lot of mutual concern and interest in putting an end to this," she said on Thursday at a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Merkel, who will address Tunisia's parliament, has urged the North African states to step up border controls and speed up procedures to repatriate migrants whose asylum applications are rejected. On migration, the procedures "were very slow but they have improved recently and will continue to improve," Germany's ambassador to Tunisia, Andreas Reinicke, told RTCI public radio. The Tunisian presidency told AFP that issues surrounding immigration "do not constitute a problem between the two countries... In Europe, everyone has seen that Tunisia now controls its borders much better." Germany has said that Tunisian bureaucratic delays meant it could not expel the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, Anis Amri, even though his asylum application had been rejected six months earlier. Essebsi told AFP in January that Tunisia "is a country which assumes its responsibilities." And a Tunisian official, who did not want to be named, said that Prime Minister Youssef Chahed's visit to Germany last month for talks had "helped appease things." The migrant issue had already been contentious in Germany where sexual assaults by large groups of mostly North African men on New Year's Eve 2015-16 against women in Cologne provoked outrage. Merkel's interior minister floated an idea for North African countries to build holding centres for returned migrants but it was rejected by Merkel's centre-left coalition partners and rights groups. Her trip is part of a larger diplomatic push by the German leader, who last year visited Mali, Niger and Ethiopia. She had also planned a trip to Algeria last week, but it was called off after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika fell ill. Germany, which this year holds the G20 presidency, has also announced investment partnerships in Africa with the long-term goals of reducing poverty and deterring people from leaving. Merkel is joined on her trip by a business delegation that could bring much-needed investments.

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As national elections loom, Mrs Merkel is attempting to shore up support in Germany and try to wrestle votes back from the staunchly anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

At the height of the migrant crisis, the European powerhouse welcomed more than one million migrants fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria.

The chancellors open-door migration policy was applauded at the time but public opinion began to sour after reports of mass sexual attacks on New Years Eve in Cologne, where more than 1,000 women reported being assaulted.

A further attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, whited killed 12, was perpetrated by Tunisian Anis Amri, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS).

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Protest on the sidelines of Angela Merkel's official visit in Brussels

Angela Merkel has been under pressure to reduce the intake of refugees and as part of her to drive to scale back arrivals she is visiting Egypt and Tunisia.

Scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Mrs Merkels government has urged the country, along with the other Maghreb states, to step up efforts to tackle the migrant problem.

Libya, a Magreb country, has been without an effective government after the overthrow of the dictator Mummer Gaddafi in 2011.

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As a result, the country has fallen prey to lawlessness, with the tentacles of ISIS permeating the country and people traffickers operating out of it, making it one of the main gateways into Europe across the Mediterranean.

The German leader urged Egypt - Libya's neighbour - to increase border controls and speed up the repatriation of rejected asylum-seekers.

Mrs Merkel said: Without a political stabilisation of Libya, we won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya who are responsible for, by far, the most arrivals in Italy

We won't be able to stop the human traffickers operating out of Libya

Angela Merkel

"Egypt, as a regional institution, as a regional power, plays a major role here, as do Algeria and Tunisia.

She is due to meet with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi before flying back home.

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The two-day trip is part of wider diplomatic efforts to address the immigration issue, and followed trips to Mali, Niger and Ethiopia last year.

But a sticking point in negotiations with the African countries is over their human rights records, sparking fears for any migrants returning to them.

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Judith Sunderland, the Europe and Central Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said: "Ensuring safe and swift returns of Tunisians and Egyptians who are not in need of protection is legitimate, as long as the procedures are fair.

"It's another thing entirely to pursue dodgy deals that could trap asylum-seekers and migrants from elsewhere in countries like Tunisia and Egypt that cannot guarantee decent treatment or meaningful access to asylum.

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Desperate Merkel flies to North Africa to tackle migrant crisis before German elections - Express.co.uk

Manitoba and Manitobans are at the breaking point dealing with asylum-seekers and need immediate help from Ottawa, Premier Brian Pallister implored Friday.

"We need a national plan, because it's not going to go away," Pallister told reporters Friday afternoon. "We've all heard the noise from the U.S."

Pallister wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Feb. 21 asking for help. Pallister could not say Friday how much money and other resources Manitoba is seeking; his staff said details will not be available until next week.

"It's a moving target," said the premier. "It's escalating."

At least 190 people have crossed into Canada near the Emerson border crossing just this year, including 21 overnight Thursday.

Energy and resources are running out, said Pallister: "That's what people are telling me, who are working on the front lines."

The premier said the ongoing and overwhelming influx is putting a heavy burden on housing, social services, education especially English as an additional language and Legal Aid Manitoba, which handles all the paperwork and legal processes for the newcomers to Canada.

Because asylum-seekers are crossing from the U.S. in only three or four provinces and because it may not be seen as a large problem on a national scale, Ottawa may be treating it as a Manitoba problem rather than a Canadian one, Pallister acknowledged.

The federal government announced Friday that two senior cabinet ministers will be in Emerson Saturday morning.

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale and Natural Reources Minister Jim Carr will visit Emerson "to meet and thank the officials, workers, volunteers, and agencies on the ground, who have been dealing with the recent increase in irregular border crossings. The ministers will hold a brief media availability during their visit," said Ottawa officials.

The premier spoke Friday morning to Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, whose borders are increasingly receiving asylum-seekers. "He shares those concerns," said Pallister, adding the number of asylum-seekers hits Manitoba most disproportionately than of any province.

Pallister has directed provincial officials to identify provincial resources being diverted to deal with the ongoing issue, and to identify from which other front line services those staff and resources are being moved.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

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Pallister to Ottawa: Manitoba at breaking point in migrant crisis - Winnipeg Free Press

The move is likely going to attract severe criticism from the countrys Schengen and European Union partners.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbans right-wing government considers migration from the Middle East and Africa to be one of the largest threats to the European way of life.

The daunting new barrier is capable of delivering electric shocks to migrants attempting to scale the fenceand is also armed with heat sensors, cameras and loudspeakers to further deter them.

Hungary was one of the main crossing points for hundreds of thousands of refugees trekking into Europe at the height of the migrant crisis in 2015.

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A barbed-wire fence is already in place after being erected in 2015 as part of Budapests initial efforts to prevent migrants and refugees crossing into the country.

It effectively blocked the route to Germany where many were heading, but Hungary has said the second fence would make the barrier more effective and hold back migrants while processing their asylum requests.

Although the pressure on the border is far from the peak of the 2015 crisis, border patrols still prevent hundreds of illegal border crossings per day and escort back dozens of migrants who mange to break through, the government says.

Mr Orban joined several European nations, including Denmark and Sweden, by introducing checks to the passport-free countries, a huge threat to the EUs open border policy.

Hungarys transit zones are two border posts where a total of just 10 migrants per day are allowed to enter legally.

Loudspeakers blast in English, Arabic and Farsi threats warning of any migrant who may attempt to cross illegally.

Attention, attention. Im warning you that you are at the Hungarian border, they say.

"If you damage the fence, cross illegally, or attempt to cross, its counted to be a crime in Hungary. Im warning you to hold back from committing this crime. You can submit your asylum application nat the transit zone.

Construction for the second fence has already started near the border station Kelebia, and construction materials have also been shipped to the border elsewhere.

Mr Orbans chief of staff, Janos Lazar, last week said the government had earmarked 110million for the fence and containment camps to hold migrants.

He said the second border fence, which will extend only to the Hungary-Serbia border for now, would be built as soon as the weather permitted and would be standing by the end of the spring.

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African migrants react as they arrive at the CETI, the short-stay immigrant centre, after crossing the border from Morocco to Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta

The Hungarian governments practice of allowing only 10 people in per day has been criticising, human rights groups claiming it creates a dangerous bottleneck along the border.

Human Rights Watch deputy director Benjamin Ward said: The European Commission should not stand by while Hungary makes a mockery of the right to seek asylum.

Using transit zones as detention centres and forcing asylum seekers who are already inside Hungary back to the Serbian side of the razor-wire fence is abusing, pointless and cruel.

A government statement rejected the claims, it read: Human Rights Watch again tries to denigrate those serving at the border.

Hungary was among the first to honour the EUs rules, protects the Schengen borders, stops, registers and separates refugees from economic migrants.

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Thousands trying to reach Western Europe are facing an ever increasing desperate situation as countries close their borders and are overwhelmed by the flow of migrants and refugees.

Here, a mounted policeman leads a group of migrants near Dobova, Slovenia, October 20, 2015.

Credit: Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters

Doctors and paramedics take care of a child who was later taken to the hospital following a rescue operation when a boat with migrants sank while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on October 28, 2015.

The Greek coast guard said it rescued 242 refugees and migrants off the eastern island of Lesbos on October 28, 2015, after the wooden boat they traveled in capsized.

Credit: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

A Greek Coast Guard helicopter flies over fishing boats trying to rescue refugees and migrants, after a boat carrying more than 200 people sunk while crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey, near the Greek island of Lesbos, October 28, 2015.

At least three migrants drowned and the Greek coastguard rescued 242 others when their wooden boat sank north of the island of Lesbos on Wednesday, authorities said. Four other boats sank the same day leaving at least 15 people dead, mainly children, in total.

Credit: Giorgos Moutafis/Reuters

A man holds three children wearing thermal blankets after their arrival in bad weather from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos , Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015.

With winter fast approaching, the danger grows and more are taking risky journeys.

Credit: Santi Palacios/AP

Mohammed Hasan, an 18-month-old Syrian toddler, is seen onshore after he was rescued by a Turkish fisherman after a boat of migrants sunk a few miles off the coast of Turkey, October 21, 2015. The boy was reunited with his mother in Turkey after he was revived with CPR.

Nearly 50,000 people have made it to Greece's coast in a few short days, but dozens more have died at sea, including 14 in this incident.

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Migrants protect themselves from the rain as they make their way to Slovenia from Trnovec, Croatia, October 19, 2015.

Thousands of migrants crossed into Slovenia after Croatia closed its frontier, October 19, 2015. Hungary sealed its border with Croatia the previous week. Many refugees are now facing deteriorating conditions as winter approaches.

The Balkans faced a growing backlog of migrants, thousands building up on cold, wet borders after the closure of Hungary's southern frontier diverted them to Slovenia.

Credit: Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters

A policeman holds the hand of a young girl as migrants are escorted through Dobova to a holding camp in Dobova, Slovenia, October 22, 2015.

Thousands of migrants marched across the border from Croatia into Slovenia as authorities intensify their efforts to attempt to cope with a human tide unseen in Europe since World War II.

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Croatian riot police officers control the access to a refugee camp as more migrants arrive from the Serbian border on September 22, 2015 in Opatovac, Croatia.

Croatia built a camp to control the flow of migrants to Hungary with a capacity of 4,000 people.

Credit: David Ramos, Getty Images

Hundreds of migrants who arrived on the second train of the day at Hegyeshalom on the Hungarian and Austrian border, walk the four kilometres (2.5 miles) into Austria on September 22, 2015.

Thousands of migrants arrived in Austria over the weekend with more en-route from Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. Politicians from across the European Union are holding meetings on the refugee crisis September 23, to try and solve the crisis and the dispute of how to relocate 120,000 migrants across EU states.

Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Migrants and refugees queue to register at a camp after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border near Gevgelija on September 22, 2015.

EU interior ministers were set to hold emergency talks to try and bridge deep divisions over Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II, as pressure piles on member states to reach an agreement.

Credit: NikolayI Doychinov/AFP/Getty Images

A local man surveys a huge pile of deflated dinghies, tubes and life vests left by arriving refugees and migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos on September 18, 2015.

Credit: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

Migrants desperately try and board a train heading for Zagreb from Tovarnik station on September 20, 2015 in Tovarnik, Croatia.

Croatia continues to send buses and trains north to its border with Hungary, as officials have estimated that around 20,000 migrants have entered since September 16.

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The open-door policy of the Croatian government for migrants and refugees lasted just 24 hours. After an influx of an estimated 13,000 migrants and refugees in two days, the country said it could take no more, September 18, 2015.

A baby cries as migrants clamor to board a bus in Tovarnik, Croatia, September 17, 2015. Asylum seekers thwarted by a new Hungarian border fence and repelled by riot police poured into Croatia, spreading the strain.

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Migrants protest at the Tovarnik railway station, Croatia September 18, 2015. Migrants continued to stream through fields from Serbia into the European Union on Friday, undeterred by Croatia's closure of almost all road crossings after an influx of more than 11,000. Helpless to stem the flow, Croatian police rounded them up at the Tovarnik on the Croatian side of the border, where several thousand had spent the night under open skies. Some kept traveling, and reached Slovenia overnight.

Credit: Antonio Bronic/Reuters

A migrant man remonstrates with security as he and other migrants try to force their way through police lines at Tovarnik station for a train to take them to Zagreb on September 17, 2015 in Tovarnik, Croatia. Migrants are crossing into Croatia from Serbia two days after Hungary sealed its border with Serbia, the majority of them want to reach Germany, amid divisions within the European Union over how to manage the ongoing crisis.

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Migrants force their way through police lines at Tovarnik station to board a train bound for Zagreb on September 17, 2015 in Tovarnik, Croatia. Migrants are diverting to Croatia from Serbia after Hungary closed its border with Serbia, with the majority of them trying to reach Germany amid divisions within the European Union over how to manage the ongoing crisis.

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Migrants wait near the train station in Tovarnik, Croatia, September 17, 2015. Amid chaotic scenes at its border with Serbia, Croatia said on Thursday it could not cope with a flood of migrants seeking a new route into the EU after Hungary kept them out by erecting a fence and using tear gas and water cannon against them.

Credit: Antonio Bronic/Reuters

Policemen direct migrants during a stampede to board a bus in Tovarnik, Croatia on September 17, 2015. Croatia said it could not take in any more migrants, amid chaotic scenes of riot police trying to control thousands who have streamed into the European Union country from Serbia.

Credit: Antonio Bronic/Reuters

A migrant taunts Hungarian riot police as they fire tear gas and water cannons on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke, Hungary, September 16, 2015. The clash occurred after hundreds of migrants, stuck at the sealed border between Serbia and Hungary, protested and tried to break through.

Serbia condemned Hungary's use of water cannon and tear gas against migrants on their border, saying Hungary had "no right" to do so, the Serbian state news agency Tanjug reported.

Credit: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

An injured migrant carries a child during clashes with Hungarian riot police at the border crossing with Serbia in Roszke, Hungary on September 16, 2015. Hungarian police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesting migrants demanding they be allowed to enter from Serbia on the second day of a border crackdown.

Credit: Karnok Csaba/Reuters

Migrants protest as Hungarian riot police fires tear gas and water cannons at the border crossing with Serbia in Roszke, Hungary, September 16, 2015.

Credit: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Hungarian riot policemen escort a migrant woman and a child in Roszke, Hungary on September 16, 2015.

Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Hungarian riot police watche from behind a fence as migrants protest on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke, Hungary September 16, 2015.

Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

A migrant is hit by a jet from a water cannon used by Hungarian riot police on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke, Hungary September 16, 2015.

Hundreds of migrants protested the border closure and tried to break through the sealed border.

Credit: Marko Djurica/Reuters

Migrants and refugees demonstrate as Turkish police block the road at Esenler Bus Terminal in Istanbul, Turkey on September 16, 2015.

Credit: Ahmet Sik/Getty Images

Migrants and refugees demonstrate as Turkish police block the road at Esenler Bus Terminal in Istanbul, Turkey, September 16, 2015.

Credit: Ahmet Sik/Getty Images

A refugee stands looks through the fence at the Serbian border with Hungary near the town of Horgos on September 15, 2015.

Credit: Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images

Hungarian police officers stand in front of a fence on the Serbian side of the border after sealing it near the village of Horgos, Serbia, September 14, 2015, near the Hungarian migrant collection point in Roszke.

Hungarian police closed off the main crossing point for thousands of migrants and refugees entering from Serbia every day.

The number of migrants entering Hungary this year has risen above 200,000, police said September 14. Almost all of the migrants were seeking to travel onwards to western Europe, particularly Germany and Sweden.

Credit: Marko Djurica/Reuters

Police check the passports and papers of Syrian migrants at the border check point in the village of Szentgotthard, Hungary on September 14, 2015.

Two decades of frontier-free travel across Europe unravelled as countries re-established border controls in the face of an unprecedented influx of migrants, which broke the record for the most arrivals by land in a single day.

Credit: Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters

A policeman guards migrants detained after crossing the border from Serbia near Asttohatolom, Hungary on September 15, 2015.

Hungary's right-wing government shut the main land route for migrants into the EU September 15, taking matters into its own hands to halt Europe's unprecedented influx of refugees while the bloc failed to agree a plan to distribute them.

Credit: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Migrants queue to board buses bound for Vienna from Hegyshalom holding center on the Austrian border after Hungarian authorities closed the open railway track crossing in Hegyeshalom, Hungary, September 15, 2015.

Hungary implemented new laws to cope with the influx of migrants which became enforceable on the night of September 14. Since the beginning of 2015 the number of migrants using the so-called 'Balkans route' has exploded with migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey and then traveling on through Macedonia and Serbia before entering the EU via Hungary.

Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A railway wagon covered in barbed wire is placed at the Hungarian border with Serbia to stop migrants and refugees near the town of Horgos on September 15, 2015.

Hungarian police closed off the main crossing point for thousands of migrants and refugees entering from Serbia daily.

Credit: Armend Nimani/AFP/Getty Images

Migrants wait on the Serbian side of the border with Hungary in Roszke, September 15, 2015. Hungarian police detained 16 people claiming to be Syrian and Afghan migrants early in the day for illegally crossing the Serbian border fence, a police spokeswoman said, as tough new laws took effect to guard the southern frontier.

Credit: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

Policemen fix registration bands on the wrists of migrant children at a train station near the border with Austria in Freilassing, Germany September 15, 2015.

A total of 4,537 asylum seekers reached Germany by train September 14 despite the imposition of new controls at the border with Austria, according to the federal police. The arrivals brought the number of asylum seekers who have entered Germany by train since the start of the month to 91,823, a police spokeswoman in Potsdam said.

Credit: Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters

A refugee swims towards the shore after a dinghy carrying Syrian and Afghan refugees deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, September 13, 2015.

An estimated 309,000 people have arrived by sea in Greece, the International Organization for Migration (IMO) said September 11, 2015. About half of those crossing the Mediterranean are Syrians fleeing civil war, according to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

Credit: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

Migrants eat at a reception center after their arrival at the main railway station in Dortmund, Germany on September 13, 2015.

Germany re-imposed border controls on September 13 after Europe's most powerful nation acknowledged it could scarcely cope with thousands of asylum seekers arriving every day.

Credit: Ina Fassbender/Reuters

Migrants wait to board busses in Nickelsdorf, Austria on September 14, 2015.

Thousands of migrants walked unhindered across the border into Austria from Hungary on September 14, where the frontier was kept open despite Germany's sudden reintroduction of checks.

Credit: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

Syrian refugee Asmaa wipes her tears as she waits for a train on the platform at the main railway station in Munich, September 13, 2015.

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