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AfricaFocus Bulletin
"There is no dialogue. What we are seeing from the EU is a monologue
that seeks only to impose its own agenda," a high-ranking African
Union official said anonymously in an interview with the Afronline
newsletter. While there are strong critiques of the European
position from both African and European civil society, his
prediction is unlikely to be proved false when heads of state gather
in Valetta, Malta next week.
Leaks of the draft agreement and action plan show that African
states will be pushing for more legal migration channels to the EU,
while European states are focusing on keeping people out and sending them
back.
News reports with details of the drafts and background to the
negotiations are available from Afronline (http://www.afronline.org/?p=40663/) and EU Observer (http://euobserver.com/migration/130960).
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains (1) a short position paper by
Oxfam stressing the legitimacy of "migration" and the need to deal
with the consequences and causes of "displacement" (forced migration
from multiple causes), in contrast to the common assumption that
migration as such is a "problem" to be solved. (2) brief excerpts
from a statement by African and European Civil Society statement on
the summit, and (3) brief excerpts from a new International
Organization for Migration report on Gallup Polls on attitudes
towards migration around the world.
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on migration issues, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/migrexp.php
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++
La Valletta, 11-12 November 2015
Migration: Challenges and Opportunities
Migration -- movement of people within and across borders -- is and
has been a normal feature of human existence for millennia. Today,
movement across borders continues for many reasons, including:
Migration is often complex, and people may be on the move for many
and sometimes multiple reasons. Such movement should be managed
effectively for the benefit and safety of all involved, and in full
respect of human rights and the specific rights of refugees; but
never at the cost of stifling mobility or restricting people's
access to protection from persecution or harm.
People are on the move for many reasons, including pursuing
educational or career opportunities or reuniting with family.
Moreover, the impact of migration is often favourable, with net
benefits for the receiving countries in the areas of labour market,
taxes and social contributions, and general economic growth.
Migration also has some benefits for communities in countries of
origin, including remittances, which while not a replacement for
aid, have been shown to contribute to poverty reduction and
development. In this respect, migration is positively linked to
development, rather than an issue that development helps to "solve."
Many of the reasons behind migration and its effects are therefore
not problems that need to be "tackled."
However, migration is also
one way people may cope with genuine problems like conflict, the
outcomes of inequality, and climate change. People who move in
response to difficult problems can become part of complex situations
for transit and receiving States, particularly when acute crises
result in large and sudden movements as people flee. They may also
cause difficulties for their country of origin, depriving it of
future and current professionals and even possibly resulting in loss
of a generation. However a focus on stopping migration to address
the challenges faced by transit and receiving States distracts from
addressing the real root causes of threats to well-being, peace,
security, and prosperity. It is these issues that require tackling
in order to improve the safety and well-being of the people affected
by them, regardless of whether they are attempting to cope through
migration or by any other means.
Nearly 60 million people worldwide are now displaced from their
homes. There are many different causes, which can range from
conflict in Syria and repression in Eritrea to climate changerelated
drying in the Sahel. The EU must avoid taking a Eurocentric
view of these "root causes" which are many and diverse, and which
principally affect the countries of origin of migrants and their
neighbours. Addressing crises and chronic problems requires
strategies aimed at dealing holistically with these situations and
all their impacts, including, but not only, that of people being
forced to flee.
EU-Africa dialogue on displacement must first of all recognise that
the large majority of those displaced in African countries remain on
the continent, and even in their own country or locality. Addressing
the needs and respecting the rights of these displaced people and
refugees is first and foremost the responsibility of the governments
who host them. However, African and European leaders must work
together to support durable solutions for people who have fled their
homes, and while many African countries are host to the greatest
numbers of refugees and internally displaced people, the EU must
provide a fair share of support to meet their needs.
Development is not a "solution" to the "problem" of migration. In
the first place, migration as a whole is not a problem in and of
itself; secondly, evidence suggests that increasing human
development in less developed countries is generally associated with
higher, rather than lower, levels of mobility -- both emigration and
immigration.
More importantly, the ultimate purpose of development aid is to
reduce and eradicate poverty. 5 It aims to support the social,
economic, political and environmental progress of a developing
country over a relatively long period of time. The basic premise is
that poor people should be put in a position to lift themselves out
of their condition of poverty and inequality. Donors must not
subordinate the ultimate goal of poverty eradication and reducing
inequality to broader domestic or foreign policy interests.
Development aid should therefore under no circumstances be used or
instrumentalised to restrict any kind of mobility, as this does not
pertain to its central purpose of poverty reduction, and may even
work counter to that purpose.
In the EU-Africa Declaration on Migration and Mobility by the fourth
EU-Africa Summit in April 2014, leaders acknowledged that "the
benefits that migration and mobility can bring to both our
continents, and that a comprehensive approach to migration and
mobility are powerful vehicles for boosting sustainable economic,
social and environmental development for countries of origin,
transit and destination, as well as to migrants themselves" and
committed both to "strengthen international protection" for refugees
and displaced persons and to "advance legal migration and
mobility...between and within the continents." When they meet again
in Valletta in November, EU and African leaders must ensure that
they adhere to the spirit of this declaration.
1. Recognise the distinction between "mobility" and "displacement"
-- and therefore between people on the move voluntarily and those
forced to move -- in national and regional policies as well as in
Africa-EU cooperation on migration. Displacement is a negative
impact stemming from many different causes which need to be
addressed, while people who are displaced are given refuge,
assistance, and support to find a durable solution to their
situation, including opportunities to practice a livelihood and
contribute to the economy.
Mobility contributes to innovation,
economic growth and personal development and should not be stifled.
Mobility and free movement is an important aspect of regional
integration, as demonstrated by the European Union itself in the
formation of its own internal market. Effective implementation of
the existing regional free movement agreements like the ECOWAS Free
Movement of Persons' Protocols, and general support of the letter
and spirit of Article 43 on free movement of persons of the African
Economic Community Treaty, must not be infringed in any way by EUAfrica
cooperation on migration. While there is an important
distinction between mobility and displacement which must inform how
they are respectively addressed, these are both aspects of
migration, and people may be on the move for many and multiple
reasons. In this context, a focus on addressing "root causes" of
migration as a whole is counter-productive and potentially harmful.
Decisions on cooperation between Africa and the EU must be "fit for
purpose" to tackle the situations that cause displacement while
respecting mobility.
2. Aim to resolve genuine problems of fragility, instability and
crisis for the benefit of affected populations. The Joint EU-Africa
Strategy has achieving human security, political stability and
effective governance as a strategic objective. African and EU
leaders should continue to cooperate on joint actions to prevent and
resolve conflict and instability, situations which put lives at risk
and, amongst other negative effects, force people to flee. In doing
so, they must recognise that insecurity and violence are causes of
displacement, and not their effect. Cooperation to counter terrorism
and instability cannot come at the price of scapegoating displaced
populations or putting the security of states before that of people.
In this respect, migrants should not be portrayed as a potential
"threat" and should be considered first as people in need of
protection and whose rights need to be respected.
The immediate
needs of displaced populations and host communities require full
support, and people who have fled across international borders must
have their rights as refugees recognised and respected. While
further onward movement may be at times a secondary coping mechanism
for a small number of displaced people, the situations that cause
displacement cannot be addressed appropriately through the lens of
stopping migration to Europe. Africa-EU efforts to contribute to
prevention and resolution of crises must be driven by and focus on
the causes of instability and conflict, not on perceived causes of
migration.
3. Ensure that development aid is not diverted, distorted, reduced,
or instrumentalised. Development aid is not a "solution" for the
"problem" of migration; indeed, evidence suggests that mobility and
development go hand-in-hand. Moreover, development aid has a sole
purpose of reducing and eradicating poverty. The EU must adhere to
the letter and the spirit of the Lisbon Treaty in this regard.
Increased development assistance that respects this principle is
needed and welcome. Stronger European support for third countries
hosting internally displaced people and refugees, including in
situations of protracted displacement, is also necessary. However
further aid provided in the context of migration must be in
alignment with the development needs of the recipient country and
its people as laid down in the Busan development effectiveness
principles -- not aimed at addressing a perceived problem for
Europe. In this respect, new and existing cooperation instruments
must:
4. Put human security, human development and respect for rights at the centre of all policies and responses to movement of populations. Regardless of the reasons a person is on the move, national, regional and Africa-EU joint responses must respect fundamental rights as well as the specific rights of people in need of international protection. Security-led approaches to border control demonstrably fail to stem the movement of people while criminalisation of irregular migration has only increased the risks to people's safety and created incentives for smugglers and traffickers. At Valletta, African and European leaders must instead take a people-centred approach to protecting migrants, granting international protection to refugees, fighting trafficking, and promoting safe and legal channels for migration. This includes:
African and European Civil Society Joint Statement Valletta Summit, 11-12 November, 2015[Brief excerpts only - for full text visit http://www.madenetwork.org/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/o5fld83] In the 2014 EU-Africa Declaration on Migration and Mobility, African and European leaders acknowledged "the benefits that migration and mobility can bring to both continents" as well as the need for "a comprehensive approach to migration and mobility". The leaders also committed to both "strengthen international protection" for refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons and to "advance legal migration and mobility [...] between and within the continents." When these leaders meet again in Valletta, we call on them to adhere to the spirit of this declaration. We call on African and European leaders to take decisions that respect the right to mobility and focus first, on human rights, decency, dignity, well-being and welcoming of people in need. African and European leaders should work as equal partners, and in collaboration with civil society, to deliver a plan that improves migration management and governance. And short-term responses to current emergencies should be crafted with a long-term perspective in mind. With great urgency, it is time to:
How the World Views Migration International Organization for Migration (IOM)October 2015 https://www.iom.int/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/pkdvzlp [Excerpts from press release - full report available at link above] "The study, based on interviews conducted by Gallup with over 183,000 adults across over 140 countries between 2012 and 2014, shows that people around the world are not as opposed to immigration as may be commonly assumed. Some 43 per cent favour increasing or keeping stable the numbers of immigrants in their countries, while only 34 per cent support lower levels of immigration. People in Europe appeared to be the most negative towards immigration, with over half of all respondents favoring lower immigration levels in their countries." "Attitudes differed substantially between Northern Europe – with people in Sweden, Denmark and Finland being generally positive about immigration – and Southern Europe, where a high percentage of people in Greece, Malta and Italy wanted to see immigration reduced. The UK represented the only exception in Northern Europe, with over twothirds of respondents wanting to see lower immigration levels." [Excerpts from full report] Residents of Africa, as a whole, are more likely to favour keeping immigration levels the same (21%) or increasing them (26%) rather than decreasing them (40%). Attitudes are most positive in Western Africa, where the majority would like to see same or increased immigration levels. In fact, the 33 per cent of adults who want to see levels increased is not only the highest among all regions in Africa but also the highest in the world. Nearly half of residents in Niger (45%) – a major transit country for migrants from other Western African countries – would like to see higher immigration levels. In contrast, residents of nearly every country surveyed in Northern Africa – the gateway to other countries in Europe and elsewhere – are, on average, more negative than positive about immigration. Several of these countries, such as Libya, where 54 per cent of residents want immigration levels to decrease, had recently emerged from conflict at the time the survey was conducted. While many migrants fled Libya during the upheaval, a large number still remains and continues to pour into the fragile country from elsewhere in Africa. Majorities too in Southern Africa are more likely to want to see immigration levels decreased in their countries. Rising xenophobic sentiment has often turned violent in countries such as the main destination for migration in the region, South Africa, 8 where 56 per cent of residents want to see lower immigration levels. AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin, or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.org |