A controversial deal signed between the European Union and Turkey in March has reduced the flow of refugees and migrants to Greece from Turkey. Now, the European Union is turning its attention to migrants from Africa heading across the Mediterranean to Italy.

The deal with Turkey was roundly criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations for violating international law protecting asylum seekers. The deal was signed with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an autocrat, who has attacked the news media and freedom of expression. If the European Union does not do better on dealing with migration from Africa, it will further damage to its credibility as a model of democracy and human rights.

Some 100,000 people are expected to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy this year alone. As of the end of last month, 28,000 people had already arrived in Italy; nearly 1,000 others drowned, or are missing and presumed dead. Clearly, this catastrophe must be addressed. But Europe’s focus is on heading off migration from Africa, where population growth is outstripping economic opportunity.

Last year, the E.U. approved a 1.8 billion-euro fund to address the “root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa.” The idea is to tackle migration from Africa at the source, by promoting “security and development.” This makes sense: Most people would not travel to war-torn Libya and pay smugglers exorbitant sums to risk their lives at sea if they had decent options closer to home.

To make sure migrants in Libya don’t move on to Europe, the E.U. is planning to enlist NATO to patrol the Mediterranean off Libya’s coast, as NATO began doing off the coast of Turkey in February. In theory, NATO’s purpose is to go after smugglers. But it’s not clear, beyond a powerful symbol of Western solidarity to protect Europe’s borders, what purpose these patrols really have. Smugglers generally don’t board the boats they load up with migrants, and NATO is not in the business, alas, of rescuing drowning migrants at sea.

The E.U. is also planning a deal with Nigeria modeled on the refugee deal with Turkey. Nigerian “economic migrants” not eligible for asylum would be returned to Nigeria in exchange for European economic aid. But there are no details yet on how the E.U. will do any better job of protecting the rights of asylum seekers in this deal than it did in the deal with Turkey. Europe needs to make sure this deal, like its trust fund for Africa, is more than simply a means to keep refugees out.