A coalition of more than 100 charities including Church-led organisations has warned that the European Union is set to open a "dark chapter" in its history if it shifts toward a foreign policy aimed at curbing migration.

According to Amnesty International, the EU and its member states risk undermining their credibility in the defence of human rights.

The EU has called for the establishment of "compacts" with several countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East along the lines of what the NGOs call the "deeply flawed" arrangement with Turkey, which saw it granted diplomatic advantages in return for humanitarian assistance and cooperation in returning refugees.

The plan proposes using aid, trade and other funds to encourage countries to reduce the number of migrants reaching EU shores.

Amnesty and the other organisations say that it is wrong to make funding conditional on "migration management", that the EU has not said how migrants could be enabled to come to the bloc through legal means, and that there is no way proposed of monitoring the human rights of affected migrants. They also criticise the EU's plans to deal with people-smuggling, describing them as "simply a further entrenchment of the EU's failed 'Fortress Europe' policies"; while EU governments are "already spending billions on fences, high-tech surveillance and border guards", migrants are continuing to arrive by sea.

The NGOs call on the European leaders to reject the Commission proposal on migration. Instead, European countries should develop a sustainable long-term strategy for migration management, they say. "The EU, a project built on the rubble of a devastating war, is about to embark on a dark chapter of its history," the organisations warn in their joint statement.

Among the signatories are many Christian aid organisations, including CAFOD, the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, Pax Christi and World Vision Brussels.