Union européenne

L'Allemagne attendait avec impatience un scrutin régional dans le plus grand Land du pays, la Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, ce dimanche 14 mai. Il s'agissait d'un test grandeur nature quatre mois avant les élections générales de septembre. Il s'est soldé par une victoire des chrétiens-démocrates d'Angela Merkel dans un fief de la gauche.

L’attaque du « rançongiciel » WannaCry a été lancée vendredi 12 mai, mais il se pourrait bien que de nouveaux dégâts surviennent ce lundi quand vont être rallumés les ordinateurs d’entreprises fermées tout au long de ce week-end. Europol l’agence européenne de police, dont le siège est à La Haye aux Pays-Bas, avertit que beaucoup de réseaux pourraient faire les frais de leur manque de précautions.

Tackling the socio-economic reasons for departure: a prerequisite for a good Mobility Partnership

African countries are among our most crucial partners to tackle this migration crisis, being both source and transit countries. They also bear significant part of the human cost of this situation. The Arab Spring heavily destabilised the whole region, assesses Ralph Genetzke from ICMPD. The collapse of Libya, the regime change in Tunisia, the toughening of Morocco, and now the actions of the European Union in the East Mediterranean all lead to a remapping of the migration routes towards the West Mediterranean. Italy and Spain remain key entry points of illegal arrivals into the Union. As for the Balkans and Turkey route, these partners countries have to deal with more than the mere mobility of their own nationals to the EU. Morocco and Tunisia were, and still are to a large extend, transit countries where third country national from Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions try to enter illegally the Union.

Ralph Genetzke emphasises that it is important to have a good understanding of what happens in the country you are working with, and the specific dynamics of migration flows on their territory.

Migratory flows can lead to the establishment of entire economies built on the smuggling and the exploitation of the migrants. Deputy director at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime Tuesday Reitano told the audience in a Conference on Human Smuggling in Brussels (March 2017) that some countries in the Sub-Saharan region or in the Horn of Africa started relying on the illegal commerce surrounding both regional and global migration. For example, her study on the Niger-Libya smuggling corridor shows that the smuggling of people has become and industry. It is the most profitable form of smuggling, and is also more profitable than legal trades in the region (Reitano & Tinti 2015). The revenues generated by the smuggling of people are now embedded within national political and security structures in the region.

“Without this revenue, the Army of Niger would have no fuel”, she pointed out.

Addressing the root causes:

It is crucial to have a thorough description of the situation in the field. The issue of working with local communities and finding alternative income generation activities is an inescapable component of an effective migration policy. Only disrupting this smuggling industry will not solve the problem, will create unemployment with a risk of further radicalisation, and even enrolment in armed activities by the youth, as the Institute for Security Studies points out in a paper called “Mali’s young “jihadists”: Fuelled by faith or circumstance?”. Some non economic and non ideological factors also explain the radicalisation of the youth, for example the need for protection for them and their family. The European Union and its partners should always bear in mind the complexity of the field and conduct detailed analysis of local situations before and while acting.

To attract potential irregular migrants, collecting networks are also developing in the South of Sahel (Nigeria, Mali, e.g.) and the Horn of Africa. The fast growing population of the region does not match the job creation rate, and young people often find themselves without a job or a stable source of income for them and their family. Nigeria is for example the home of 186 million people, and 42% of them are currently under 18. The median age is only 18.4 years old, and half of the population lives in cities. A substantial number of young people in rural areas live without a stable source of food and income. This is why the Valletta Summit focused on the issues of income generation, especially on the modernisation and sustainability of agricultural production for reliable farmer income, and also education and vocational training. These are root causes the EU has to address in order to have a comprehensive migration policy. The EU Emergency Trust Fund is here to create the pre-condition for a migration policy to encompass all these parameters.

The role Mobility Partnerships in the West Mediterranean region:

Once again, ICMPD believes that migration related issues should be here a prominent aspect of the European Foreign Policy in the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Horn of Africa. Mobility Partnership Agreements are an important tool for the European involvement in the neighbouring regions, both South and West of the Union. Here, Ralph Genetzke provided us with a general assessment of this kind of partnership in the region, and then focused on the case of Tunisia.

Mobility Partnerships are useful tools to start working with countries on the legal mobility of people, and thus to establish structures that will be able to adapt and to tackle new migration issues as they evolve.

“In the end, if you look into the content of the Mobility Partnerships, you could also call them “Migration Partnerships”. There are all the elements you need when you want to have a structured dialogue with the country. France, and other countries, have their own bilateral Migration Agreements. If you look into them, you will find the same elements. You have a blueprint of structure: cooperation platforms in the country, questions about funding, modalities of the meetings and the common work, and all the technicalities that make the practical cooperation possible”.

Mobility Partnership Agreements were all initially designed to address the legal migration of the partner country’s own nationals to the EU, and that is why they are not sufficient to cope with the current migration crisis, where third country nationals transit through countries we have an MPA with, such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan. They were developed around 2006 and 2007, at a time when the European Commission wanted to signal their commitment to act in this field to their international partners. These agreements were also meant to remind the Member States that legal migration has to be a part of the discussions they conduct with third countries. In other words, legal migration can not be excluded from their traditional foreign policies. In the these partnerships, the Member States participate in a voluntary basis. The number of admissions of third country workers remains a national competence, and stands as contentious issue.

They should not be confused with readmission agreements, where different problems arise. The almost ten years long negotiation on readmission with Morocco, independently of the Mobility Partnership, illustrates the difficulty to reach an agreement on readmission of transiting third country nationals and on how many workers could come to specific EU Member States. That is why ICMPD firmly believes that readmission asks for a more comprehensive and regional approach, including a coherence with the overall European policy for the region, and coordination with other tools in the field of economic cooperation and development.

Mobility Partnership Agreements are part of a bilateral approach the EU develops with its partners, and they exist together with several other bilateral agreements on related topics. For example, the EU also has a refugee-focused compact with Lebanon alongside the Mobility Partnership. This bilateral approach with several agreements make things more complex, but they allow well targeted responses to various challenges. Mobility Partnerships also vary in reality between the countries, because their formal text is later substantiated by detailed annexes agreed upon by each partner country. This is why Ralph Genetzke underlines the importance to make them operational. Anyhow, beyond the advantages of actual work, bringing both parties together generates mutual trust, and improve the efficiency of their own internal structures. And that makes the coordination with other agreements even more important, because the topics covered by the implementation of the Mobility Partnership must not overlap or undermine the implementation of the other agreements the EU has with the country.

There is one logical precondition to the conclusion of such a partnership: there must a be a credible State structure to work with. That is why the ICMPD is currently working in Libya to identify the stakeholders the EU could work with. The “State authorities” do not seem robust enough to be in position to negotiate and to implement such cooperation, but local authorities could be strong enough to put in place some actions to help migrants in Libya. This situation is a good reminder that mobility deals must always be included in the general foreign policy of the EU and its members States. Where there is no state, there is no room for such partnerships and it is therefore harder to face all the challenges the migration crisis creates.

Tunisia gives us another good example of the importance of incorporating European action related to migration in a more global approach to countries and regions. Ralph Genetzke’s assessment of the situation in Tunisia is rather positive. The revolution that started the Arab Spring did not leave the country in ruins, and the current Tunisian government is actively implementing the 2014 Mobility Partnership. The Tunisian civil society exerts a tough scrutiny on the government on every policy, and especially on its migration policies. International observers remain very present and give a strong incentive to the government to do its job in a way that both respects Human Rights and works effectively. Forcing unilaterally migration on the agenda too much could destabilise the new regime, and this would be disastrous for the Tunisian people, for the third country nationals in Tunisia, and for the Europeans. We should always be careful not to be counterproductive when putting migration on the table.

“In the end, it is not so different for European politicians and our national administrations”, Genetzke said.

Migration is part of a policy and not some stand-alone topic. Mobility Partnerships and other agreements on migration must also contribute to meet the end goals of the EU and its Member States.

“ It is a fine line for Europe to find how to have interests and put them on the table, and to remember that the ultimate goal in our relationship with Tunisia is the stability of Tunisia”.

Dialogue is crucial, because asking too much can bring a partner to the verge of the political collapse at the detriment of every stakeholder. In this crisis, no country is an island. And no topic is a stand-alone topic. We must always have in mind the broader picture. The 2016 EU Global Strategy emphasises that the resilience of partner economies should be a key driver of EU cooperation and assistance to the region. Discussing migration should be done with special attention to this end goal.

We can try to build on the cooperation structures and mutual trust we have with these countries to address the several issues surrounding illegal migration. The implementation of the Mobility Partnership in Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon brought structures, good practices, and mutual trust that will help work on illegal migration and coordinate our policies with other broader policies like the Rabat and the Khartoum process.

West and Central Africa: the significant achievements of the Rabat Process

The dialogue framework developed between the European Union and West/Central African countries

When 27 African countries agreed 10 years ago to engage with the EU and its 27 Members States on the Euro-African migration route in an unprecedented effort of cooperation, they did not foresee the critical relevance of the migration issues for good relations between the two regions.

The surge of migrants trying to reach Europe through Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in 2005/06 was a wake-up call. It led to the decision to engage in a dialogue on the West African migration route between all countries affected by the crisis: countries of origin, transit countries and destination countries in Europe.

The Rabat process works on the basis of a sustained dialogue at the ministerial level and thematic exchange on the mutually agreed strategic issues listed in ministerial declarations. It has evolved into a real cooperation framework where priorities are followed up by operational initiatives improving the migration management in several phases. Ministerial and thematic meetings were put forward to implement the discussion.

It takes time for multi-state dialogue processes to build trust among partners and to mature. The gradual exchange of views and experiences between parties having each their own specific interest but willing to address a common issue enable all to improve on their response, both at the regional and at the national level. The political commitment by the parties can bring all the more results that dialogue is backed up by concrete initiatives to operationalize the joint declarations and actions plans. Such concrete activities are not always identical, but drawn from the common platform and adapted to each national situations. Furthermore, the continuity of dialogue fosters a flexibility enabling to adapt to new emerging urgent issues.

ICMPD has played an important facilitating role in supporting such migration dialogue processes launched by the European Union in its neighbourhoods. It has provided continuity and coherence of action through regular meetings and concrete support at country level.

Four ministerial declarations were released about the Rabat Process since 2006. Each declaration marked a different stage of its development. These declarations outline actions plans for the future of this cooperation.

The first declaration established a “close partnership” to pursue a dialogue among countries on the West African migration route. Following the Rabat action plan, more concrete phases began. The second declaration agreed on a Triennial Cooperation Program (Paris, 2008) that organizes legal migration, tackles illegal migration and reinforces the link between migration and development. Four years after, the States met up in Dakar, Senegal and put in place a strategy focused on more operational initiatives. In 2014, the Rome programme came along. This programme included for the first time two new aspects of the cooperation which were contentious issues back in 2006: the promotion of international protection, and asylum. International protection became a legitimate aspect of the cooperation among countries.

As highlighted by Mr Genetzke: “This is one of the biggest example where you see how it has changed over the years: countries would never question that anymore”.

Next to dialogue, operational initiatives were progressively put in place using financial instrument from the European commission. Between 2008 and 2012, partners countries supported the organisation of meetings, and developed communication tools in order to improve the information sharing and the coordination between partners.

A biggest step was reached in 2013, when partners agreed on the implementation of a short term technical assistance on the country’s request, and on the development communication between them. A new stage was reached in 2015, facilitating the funding of technical assistance and main initiatives.

The success of the Rabat process

The success of the Rabat process is difficult to quantify. It started as a simple dialogue among participating countries and eventually evolved into a more practical cooperation, which is still developing. A lot has happened during these ten years of cooperation.

“Over the last 10 years, we have seen a change of attitude of African countries in terms of wanting to address migration issues”, Ralph Genetzke told us.

Not only did it change on a bilateral level with the European Union, but it also impacted the way to cooperate between themselves. This process has become a reference. It has given the participants a common foundation for future work. It is now possible to know how cooperation can go on.

“The objective of dialogue is dialogue”.

Ministerial meetings are not the only way to have a discussion on migration. ICMPD is trying other ways to improve cooperation with technical meetings or smaller ones at national level, thereby encouraging a more efficient coordination between the administrations.

As Ralph Genetzke explained, “we always think about West and North Africa, but there are others regions such as Central Africa” that need to develop cooperation on the issue of migration.

“Reality between these different parts of Africa are really different”.

That is the reason why the Khartoum process was introduced.

The Khartoum Process:

The Khartoum process only started in 2014. It gathers countries from Eastern Africa (the Horn of Africa), a totally different set of countries than the Rabat Process. It brings together countries which are not in good term with each other such as Ethiopia and Eritrea or South Sudan and Sudan. It has only been two years, and the countries are still in the discussion stage but they seem ready to engage in operational initiatives together. With the help of the European commission, partners are more willing to take part in such a project.

ICMPD supports the Khartoum process by organizing, suggesting, and convening but always under the control of participating countries, especially the chair of the ministerial committee. To fight against human smuggling and migration network, the first way to work with such countries is to understand what is happening in their own countries, to interact with the community, and to work with the local authorities. To do such a cooperation, organisations have to take into account the smuggling industry as a whole including the creation of unemployment, risk of radicalization, enrolment in army activity, etc.

As a result, the EU was able to address the burning issues of migration from Africa by gathering the Heads of States of countries affected by the crisis at the Valletta Summit in December 2015. Many were already engaged in the two Processes. As Ralph Genetzke said, this meeting “injected a good dose of political energy”. The Summit brought new concrete developments to the cooperation about migration, and its follow-ups can be based on the work of the Rabat and Khartoum processes.

Recommendations about the next EU-Africa Summit

For the next EU-Africa Summit which will take place in 2018, the countries will have to  “link youth, income generation, employment, investment, and role of the private sector”.

They will have to underline how can the EU support African plans for intra-African mobility.

This question seems to be extremely relevant as the African Union wants to put intra-African migration first. A second question which will have to be answered is the one concerning the general interest of Africa and not only short term issues. Another element that should be discussed is the development of mobility with, for example, the increase of Erasmus Mundus scholarships, or even mobility of businessmen.

Ultimately, it is only through a genuine cohesive solidarity among all the EU Member States that the EU will be able to tackle the hard challenges of migration pressures, bound to continue in the decades to come. The sooner, the better for all the parties.

A special thanks to Ralph Genetzke and the ICMPD for their availability.

Zana Çanaku

Rémi Petitcol

Alice Poidevin

Sabrina Terentjew

With the assistance of P. Borgoltz

Sources:

• Reitano, T. (March 2017). “Beyond anecdotes: Human smuggling in North Africa, the Sahel and Turkey”. Lecture given at a conference organised by the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Brussels the 23th March 2017.

https://www.hss.de/fileadmin/user_upload/HSS/Dokumente/Berichte/Berichte_Ausland/2017/170323-Bruessel-Migration-Praesentation-Reitano.pdf

• Reitano, T. and Tinti, P. (2015). “Survive and advance. The economics of smuggling refugees and migrants into Europe”. ISS Paper 289 (November 2015).

https://issafrica.org/research/papers/survive-and-advance-the-economics-of-smuggling-refugees-and-migrants-into-europe

• “Mali’s young ‘jihadists’: Fuelled by faith or circumstance?”. Institute for Security Studies, Policy Brief 89 (August 2016).
• “Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe. A Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign And Security Policy”. EEAS, June 2016.
• Figures from: https://processus-de-rabat.org/fr/a-propos-processus-de-rabat/103-processus-de-rabat.html
• http://www.indexmundi.com/nigeria/demographics_profile.html
• Frontex official website: http://frontex.europa.eu/news/fewer-migrants-at-eu-borders-in-2016-HWnC1J
• Robin, N. and the “Projet de Soutien au Processus de Rabat” team.  “Une décennie de dialogue sur la migration et le développement”. ICMPD, 2015.
• “Valletta Summit on Migration: A Common Political Basis Cooperation in Migration Between Africa and the European Union Analysis of the political commitments of the Rabat Process, the Khartoum Process and the Africa – EU Dialogue on Migration » ICMPD Policy Brief, September 2015
• « Valletta Summit on Migration From Policy Coherence to Delivery Coherence Suggestions for the Valletta Summit Action Plan « . ICMPD Policy Brief, September 2015

Classé dans:Accords et politiques de coopération, Immigration légale, Interdiction de la torture et des traitements inhumains et dégradants, Interviews, Lutte contre l'immigration illégale, MIGRATIONS ET ASILE, RELATIONS EXTERIEURES Tagged: crisis, EU-Africa, ICMPD, Libya, migration, Mobility Partnership, rabat and karthoum processes, Ralph Genetzke, Réadmission, Tunisia, Valetta Summit

La cyberattaque déclenchée vendredi 12 mai avec le « rançongiciel » WannaCry est désormais décrite comme mondiale. Selon Europol, l'agence européenne de police établie aux Pays-Bas, elle a fait plus de 200 000 victimes, essentiellement des entreprises, dans au moins 150 pays. Les polices de la planète sont donc en alerte. Dans un communiqué publié samedi, Europol évoque une attaque « d'un niveau sans précédent ». Et déjà, la question des responsabilités d'une telle cyberattaque se pose et la NSA est pointée du doigt.

Cela pourrait ressembler à une répétition générale avant les élections législatives de septembre en Allemagne : la région la plus peuplée du pays, la Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, vote ce dimanche 14 mai. Ce scrutin régional représente un enjeu important pour la chancelière Angela Merkel, en lice pour un quatrième mandat.

Pour célébrer la journée de l’Europe, la ville de Paris a misé sur la gastronomie. 25 foodtrucks proposent les spécialités culinaires des pays européens à des parisiens pas toujours informés sur l’Europe.

The refugee crisis brought to the fore the realisation that the EU can not act alone. Arriving via Turkey, migrants first enter the EU, then cross into non-EU countries and re-enter the EU again to reach the Schengen area. Therefore, in seeking solutions, the EU defined as a high priority the cooperation with these third countries. It has recently stepped up its efforts to enhance cooperation with its neighbours involved in the crisis, especially Turkey and the Western Balkan countries. In a key debate during Parliament’s October 2015 plenary session, concerns were raised that the ongoing situation, apart from undermining the EU, might turn into a geopolitical crisis with a destabilising effect on the Western Balkans whose capacities to respond have been exceeded. The debate concluded that tighter cooperation with the Western Balkans was necessary to prevent further crisis in the region.

In 2015, the Western Balkans illegal migration route became by far the largest among the main migratory routes in Europe. According the European border agency FRONTEX, 850.000 irregular crossings on the Western Balkans route were registered over the course of 2015 compared to just 43.000 in 2014. Thanks to the agreement between the EU and Turkey in March 2016, the Balkan route was gradually closed. By May 2017, among the 40 000 illegal arrivals by sea to the EU reported, 90% went through the West Mediterranean route.

Migration systems in the Balkans:

National migration systems broadly in line with the EU

Through the enlargement process to the Western Balkans, national migration systems have been put in place in line with international norms and European standards. Albania, Russia, Ukraine, FYROM, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia have all signed readmission agreements with the EU. Technical assistance and financial support have been provided notably through experts coming from EU agencies to establish new legislation, institutions and build up their capacity in handling migrant flows. ICMPD has been quite involved and after Slovenia; Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia have joined the organisation. In 2016, the EU’s role consisted more precisely in enhancing its reception and asylum processing capabilities, and stepping up cooperation to fight organised crime responsible for migrant smuggling. Its support to the Western Balkan countries remains mainly in line with the traditional capacity building support approach, thus for instance with increasing financial support.

Illegal migration outmatched national capacities

As explained by Mr. Genetzke, when speaking about national migration systems, it is not only about the legal and organisational framework, but also about planning and resources needed to cope with the situation countries are dealing with. The extraordinary dimension of the crisis in 2015 and early 2016 made the difference. National systems were conceived to deal with the usual migration flows mostly focused of their nationals. Suddenly, they had to process 100 times more illegal migrants of all types (refugees, asylum seekers, economic migrants, human trafficking, extremists and criminals). Under this pressure the functioning of national systems was greatly undermined. The limited human and financial resources at country level was outmatched by the needs. Incidentally, it is the same in every country and a similar phenomena was also observed among the EU member states.

The migrant hurricane forced the attention of the EU on its neighbourhoods, in particular the Balkans. The council adopted in October 2015 the second implementation package of the European Agenda on Migration including a number of measures intended to alleviate the pressure on the countries along the Western Balkan migration route. The refugee crisis led to an important question: “which scope and scale can these systems handle ?”.

According to Mr. Genetzke, it is more the scale of the phenomenon that put the main constraints to the response by EU countries and the Balkans.

“The hard test to pass is when you actually have to deal with such huge crisis only by using the resources you have”.

The figures show that these systems have worked, although not to a wide extent. There are more successful cases, like Serbia and Moldova, and less successful ones.

Moldova, for example, has been considered as the “best child”. Moldova did so in the framework of the 2008 Mobility Partnership Agreement (MPA), making a link to the visa liberalisation negotiations and the good use of available cooperation instruments. MPAs were created in a very specific moment when the European Commission was pushing Member States to act on the issue of legal migration. They triggered progresses such as the way Poland dealt with seasonal migrant workers. These partnerships established cooperation structures on legal mobility between the EU and the country. They are not tailored to tackle illegal migration or the transit of third country nationals through the partner country.

Eastern partnership countries have been among the first signatories of MPAs with the EU. These partnerships, are the most complete framework for bilateral cooperation between the EU and its neighbour countries, and they are based on mutual offers of commitments and project initiatives covering mobility, migration and asylum issues within the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM). These instruments are now extended to the Southern neighbourhood (Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan).

At the beginning of the MPA, an issue was the lack of support measures for helping implementing the commitments taken by the country. Indeed, without this support, it remains a dead document. The role of the Mobility Facility Partnership is now to fill this gap for the effective implementation of these agreements.

In Moldova, ICMPD has contributed to the consolidation of the national system in different ways. The project « Strengthening and development of the institutional capacity of the Bureau of Migration and Asylum – strengthening legal and institutional framework for better governance of migration and asylum system (SIR) » was officially launched on 1 October 2013. The project is being implemented by ICMPD with the financial support of the government of Romania. Another project has enhanced the knowledge and skills of the Moldovan Bureau of Migration and Asylum (BMA). It helped establishing the first integration programme for foreigners in the Republic of Moldova, thus strengthening the country’s migration management system. During the project, BMA staff was trained in topics related to illegal migration, legal migration, and integration.

Other projects have been put in place for improving the social security benefits for Moldovan migrant workers. These actions aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Moldovan government in negotiating, adopting, and implementing bilateral social security agreements with major destination countries of Moldovan migrant workers. It is difficult to measure the level of success, although some positive outcomes are self-evident. The Moldovan case clearly shows the huge impact of this system on the capacity building of the administration to deal with the migrant flows.

Despite limits, a constructive response by the Balkans countries

The migration challenge has had a significant impact on the Western Balkans. Good neighbourly relations in this region are fragile and latent tensions from past conflicts are easily re-ignited. The pressure from large illegal migrants transit flows has exacerbated xenophobia, ethnic tensions and nationalist opinions. This impact, however, has not been limited to non-EU countries. EU Member States have also been overwhelmed and tensions have built up across Europe, leading governments to resort to individual ‘ad hoc policies’. Despite the fact that travel within the Schengen area should be unrestricted, some states have reintroduced internal EU borders and tightened controls even further in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Overall, the EU’s reaction has been qualified as ‘ad hoc’, with a strong focus on security. Divided national interests are hindering a common EU approach.

The EU commitment with Turkey: a positive outcome

The EU-Turkey deal came into force in March 2016. The deal aimed at returning the migrants to Turkey if their asylum claim was rejected, thus forcing Turkey to hold back a very large proportion of migrants on its shores. It establishes a “one-for-one” principle, where the EU takes one Syrian migrant for every other Syrian returned to Turkey. All the others migrants will be returned to Turkey. In return, Turkey got a promise that its EU bid would receive more attention, that Turks will eventually be able to access the Schengen zone visa-free, and received a €3bn allocation from the EU to tackle the migrant crisis.

Following the deal, the flow of illegal immigrants to Greece has been dramatically reduced, although  there are only few returns of migrants from Greece to Turkey as envisaged by the agreement. This result is quite an achievement since in 2015 smuggling refugees and other illegal migrants was probably the most lucrative Turkish industry. By late 2015, Syrians represented less than 40% of the total number of people registered entering Greece from Turkey. The ‘3 plus 3 billion euros’ package agreement also stopped the fast-growing migration industry in the country.

As experienced by ICMPD, there is a serious commitment by the Turkish side to implement the agreement. From working with the Turkish authorities and especially with the central authority dealing with migrants (DGMM), the Turkish side has taken the measures required to stop the Aegean route and has directed the EU funds to partners (public administrations, NGOs) for activities to the benefit of migrants as foreseen  in the agreement.

The long term viability of the EU-Turkey agreement also depends on the efficiency of the returning process from Greece and the EU commitment on receiving asylum seekers. As foreseen in the agreement: “for every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU taking into account the UN Vulnerability Criteria”.

The burden of over 3 million refugees could be unmanageable. The focus on the migration control has to be seen alongside domestic priorities. The EU has a key role to play to ensure that the refugee population is well taken care of to promote economic and social stability in a democratic context. At the same time, the EU has to deliver on its commitment to grant Turks citizens a visa free access to its territory. A failure on that topic could be a deal-breaker.

Our discussion with Ralph Genetzke on the situation in the Balkan and in Turkey reminds us that migration is currently not only a single part of foreign policy, but that it can be one of its most crucial elements. Connecting the dots, a positive message seems to come from the Western Balkans and Turkey. The recent refugee crisis lead these countries to be overwhelmed because it went far beyond their capabilities and resources. And it was to a large extent the case in some EU countries as well, like in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, and Bulgaria. It is the magnitude of this problem that made the national migration systems overwhelmed. On the contrary, national migration systems in the Balkan and Turkey were, and still are, successful in managing the mobility of their own nationals. Third country nationals were not always in the minds of the negotiators when the systems were designed, and no one in the EU or in the partner countries could predict such a combined flow of third countries refugees fleeing war and persecution, or hoping to get out of poverty by moving to another country. Despite many efforts, vulnerable groups can not receive the special care they need because of these countries simply lack the resources and the knowledge to provide them such a treatment.

This alleged powerlessness to tackle this crisis with the national systems lead to social tensions in these countries as well as in many member States, Genetzke points out. This crisis changed the way the local population perceives and tolerates migrants. To prevent tensions and xenophobia, the local communities in the Western Balkan countries should be encouraged to address the essential need for  migrants and refugees in the region, and receive financial resources adequate to the good management of migration flows. It is only when their national migration systems will be adequately strengthened and equipped to cope with such a situation that these negative feelings towards migrants will fade out. This is an international crisis, and these partners countries need a strong European action to help meet the stakes. EU countries should not try to shift the responsibility on third countries and their national migration systems.

Zana Çanaku

Rémi Petitcol

Alice Poidevin

Sabrina Terentjew

With the assistance of P. Borgoltz

Classé dans:Accords et politiques de coopération, Immigration légale, Interviews, Lutte contre l'immigration illégale, MIGRATIONS ET ASILE, RELATIONS EXTERIEURES Tagged: Balkans, crisis, ICMPD, migration, Mobility Partnership, Ralph Genetzke, Turkey, turkey deal

C’est sous le slogan « One belt, one road » (« une ceinture, une route ») que la Chine veut promouvoir son vaste projet de faire ressusciter l’antique Route de la soie afin de relancer le moteur économique mondial en reliant la Chine à l'Asie, l'Europe et l'Afrique via de nouvelles infrastructures. Dimanche et lundi, le président chinois Xi Jinping réunira 28 chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement à Pékin pour vanter les bénéfices de cette initiative regroupant plus 65 pays, qui produisent ensemble un tiers du PIB mondial.

La Commission européenne a revu à la hausse ses prévisions de croissance pour 2017 et 2018, malgré les négociations du Brexit qui s’annoncent difficiles.

Au deuxième jour de son voyage à Fatima pour le centenaire des apparitions mariales, le pape François a célébré ce 13 mai la messe de canonisation des deux jeunes bergers portugais. Une célébration marquée par deux moments très intenses.

Le premier déplacement d’Emmanuel Macron à l’étranger se fera à Berlin. Le nouveau président français sera reçu ce lundi 15 mai par la chancelière allemande, Angela Merkel. Durant cette rencontre, Paris et Berlin devraient notamment aborder les propositions de réforme de la zone euro du nouveau président français. Un sujet sur lequel les deux pays ne sont pas toujours sur la même longueur d’onde.

Devant le tribunal correctionnel de Bruxelles se tient depuis jeudi 11 mai le procès par contumace de la veuve et des filles de l'émir d'Abou Dhabi, président des Emirats arabes unis, un des hommes les plus fortunés de la planète. Elles sont accusées d'avoir littéralement traité comme des esclaves les domestiques qu'elles avaient amenées en Belgique dans leurs bagages. Après des années de contre-procédures dilatoires, leur procès vient enfin de s'ouvrir en leur absence pour traite d'êtres humains, séquestration, traitements inhumains et dégradants.

L'ONG allemande Sea-Watch demande une enquête indépendante sur l'incident ayant impliqué son navire de secours aux migrants et les garde-côtes libyens, jeudi 11 mai, au large de la Libye. Pour l'ONG, l'Union européenne doit éclaircir son rôle, puisque les garde-côtes libyens sont équipés et formés par la force navale européenne, l'Eunavfor.

Le pape François est à Fatima, au Portugal, pour y célébrer le centenaire de l’apparition de la Vierge Marie. Des centaines de milliers de fidèles ont fait le déplacement. Mais pour le pape, ce voyage est très inhabituel.

L'ancien commandant du Costa Concordia va se retrouver derrière les barreaux. La Cour de cassation italienne a confirmé ce vendredi 12 mai la peine de 16 ans de prison pour Francesco Schettino. Le bateau de croisière avait coulé le 13 janvier 2012 au large de l'île du Giglio, près des côtes italiennes, faisant 32 morts.

Plusieurs entreprises et banques espagnoles, ainsi que des hôpitaux britanniques, ont annoncé ce vendredi 12 mai avoir été victimes d'une cyberattaque. Parmi elles, le géant de télécoms, Telefonica, troisième opérateur mondial. Au totale, l'attaque informatique aurait touché près d'une centaine de pays.

Migration has turned into a huge issue for the European Union and its Member States in the past decade and became a crucial consideration in EU foreign and security policy. During the last 25 years, the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) was a major actor of EU migration cooperation, delivering assistance and implementing projects in the field to improve partners’ migration systems. Therefore, to better assess the current migration situation around the European Union, EU-Logos has interviewed Mr. Ralph Genetzke, Head of ICMPD Representation  in Brussels.

Thanks to dialogue, relations between the EU and third countries have changed and it has allowed countries to start with an initial issue and to address other important problems over the years. The goal of dialogue is to consolidate a country in facing issues, including on topic of migration.

Nowadays, the European Union has already built some structured cooperation frameworks on the subject of migration with several regions of the world , such as the Balkans or Western Africa.

In the interview, focus is put on three geographical areas:

• The Balkan and the Turkish route, where States built effective systems to deal the mobility of their own nationals, but are overwhelmed by the current migration crisis
• Mobility Partnerships in Africa, which underline the importance of incorporation the dialogue about migration into a broader foreign policy
• The Rabat and Khartoum Processes, which mainly focus on the importance of an inclusive dialogue between partner countries.

The European Union and third countries involved in these kind of cooperation face unprecedented migration flows. Indeed, up from 274 000 in 2014, over a million irregular migrants and refugees came to Europe during the year 2015. 885 000 of which came by the Balkan Route, and 185 000 by the West Mediterranean Route. This compares to 2016, where 710 400 people asked for asylum in Europe. Migration flows are complex because situations are different from one another: people move for various reasons and from various areas. This ongoing migration crisis and responses given to this phenomenon fall within the scope of the European Union competences. The operationalisation of the “dialogues” is needed.

This introduction is the first of the three parts of our article. The next part will dwell on migration on the Balkan and the Turkish route, and the last part will be dedicated to Africa.

Ralph Genetzke

The International Center for Migration Policy Development helps us understand the progresses and the limits to which the EU and its partners were confronted to in front of the importance of migration flows. It is valid not only for neighbours but also for the EU. ICMPD is an organisation composed with Members States, but is not affiliated to the European Union despite their cooperation. At the moment, 15 countries are part of it, and Malta and Turkey are in the process of joining in. Its action usually focuses on the regions surrounding the EU, such as the Balkans, the Mediterranean countries, or the sub-Saharan countries.

ICMPD focuses on three main areas at three different levels (Intergovernmental European, and regional).

• Research
• Facilitation of political dialogue
• Capacity building

This centre is a major EU operator and a key actor directly involved in the current crisis. ICMPD’s work underlines that these issues are really hard to solve because situations can be completely different from one another. Therefore, processes have to begin with a strong dialogue, but it is also important to have a long term vision and commitment about a better understanding of the conditions that produce the migration flows.

ICMPD has played secretariat functions for the inter-state and regional migration dialogues promoted by the EU: the Prague Process with Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Budapest Process on the Silk Road route, and the Rabat and Khartoum Processes in West and East Africa (see part II).

Zana Çanaku

Rémi Petitcol

Alice Poidevin

Sabrina Terentjew

With the assistance of P. Borgoltz

Classé dans:Accords et politiques de coopération, Conditions d'accueil des migrants et réfugiés, Immigration légale, Interviews, Lutte contre l'immigration illégale, MIGRATIONS ET ASILE, RELATIONS EXTERIEURES Tagged: Africa, Balkans, ICMPD, Interview, migration, Mobility Partnership, Ralph Genetzke, Turkey

Moins d'un an après la déclaration Schuman, en avril 1951, les six pays fondateurs de la coopération européenne se retrouvent à Paris pour signer le traité instituant la Communauté européenne du Charbon et de l'Acier pour cinquante ans. Un traité précurseur, qui pose les bases nécessaires à l'intégration européenne.

Séance plénière : 88 millions de tonnes de nourriture sont gaspillées chaque année dans l’Union européenne, soit une moyenne de 173 kilogrammes par personne. Le gaspillage alimentaire, en plus d’avoir des conséquences sur l’environnement, soulève des questions économiques et éthiques. Le Parlement européen s’apprête à adopter de nouvelles mesures visant à réduire de moitié les denrées alimentaires jetées d’ici à 2030.

Source : © Union européenne, 2017 - PE