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Tunis, Tunisia • Interior ministers from 14 nations and the EU have decided at a meeting in Tunisia to boost cooperation to tackle the migrant crisis along the often deadly central Mediterranean route, with commitments to treat the causes of migration in home and transit countries and beef up action against migrant trafficking.

In a declaration after Monday's meeting in the Tunisian capital, the ministers also agreed to work to sensitize migrants to the risks of illegal migration and the possibility of voluntarily returning home.

It was the second meeting of the "contact group" of European and African countries, including Libya, a jumping-off point for migrants.

It came a day before France hosts two Libyan rival figures, the U.N.-backed prime minister and a powerful general, in a bid to stabilize the chaotic nation.