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MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT: THE EXPERIENCES OF ACP COUNTRIES AND THE EU BORDER Workshop on "POLICING EUROPEAN EXTERNAL BORDERS -THE RENEWED EU MODEL ON BORDER MANAGEMENT”,
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to take the floor at a moment when the European Union, the principal partner in development of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, is further shaping its model on Border Management. Prior to providing you with an overview of the ACP Group’s strategies and policies in the area of Migration and Development, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizers of this Workshop, which is being held at a moment in history when managing mobility of human beings, while ensuring security for all, is more than ever a challenge. The ACP Group of States is composed of 79 countries, covering 3 continents and representing more than 735 million people. For ACP citizens, Europe is very important, but in the larger picture of migration and mobility of ACP citizens, Europe does not receive the majority of our migrants. We do not dispute the gravity of the problem for Europe, but would like to find common and acceptable solutions. This is the first message I would like to convey - now is the opportune time to collect reliable data, and to transmit the factually correct statistics to the outside world. Whilst many African migrants are trying to reach the borders of the EU, most of the migrants and asylum seekers remain on the African continent, and are moving within the continent itself. In the framework of implementing Article 13 of the Cotonou Agreement, the ACP Secretariat commissioned in 2005 a study on “Migration and Mobility of ACP Nationals within Europe”, which shows that Europe is not threatened by a massive arrival of ACP nationals. In April 2006, the ACP Secretariat organized the 1 st Meeting of ACP Ministers in charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility. At the end of the Meeting, during which the complex nexus between Migration and Development was examined, Ministers adopted the “Brussels Declaration on Asylum, Migration and Mobility”, and its Plan of Action, with a special focus on the creation of an ACP Observatory for Migration. Following the Ministerial Meeting, the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers decided the same year to create an ACP Migration Facility, with the view to build capacities to ensure the effective management of migration, including the respect of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of migrants, by also attributing an important role to civil society. To this end, special emphasis was made of the element of human security of migrants. With a view to implementing their policies, the ACP Secretariat and the European Commission collaborated in theidentification and formulation of this Facility. The general aim of the Facility is to contribute to the improvement of the conditions linked to migration from the point of view of migrants, and the social, economic and political situation of the states involved (origin, transit and destination) with the overall aim of combating poverty. The specific objective of the Facility will be to promote the cross-cutting integration of migration issues into development policies to highlight the positive effects of migration. This will make it possible to highlight, for action, the link between health, education, youth employment, free trade, rural and urban development policies, improvement of the status of women and internal/external migration. The ACP Migration Facility will ensure the implementation of the following activities: * Setting up of an ACP Migration Observatory, to be run by a network of ACP researchers and experts working continuously on the problem of migration and development. The Observatory will identify methodologies common to the network as a whole for collecting and processing national and regional data on migration, produce harmonized quantitative and qualitative data, comparable and exploitable by national and regional Forums; and also publish the content of reflections conducted in conjunction with other initiatives (the UN Global Forum, OIM, bilateral mechanisms, etc.). * Establishment of Regional Forums on Migration, with a view to strengthening regional and national institutional capacities . One institution, which will serve as a “focal point” per region/ACP State, will be responsible for organising consultations between the stakeholders in the framework of ACP Forums on Migration. A permanent and organized dialogue will be held in this framework on themes linking migration and development, so as to systematically obtain the views of the various stakeholders on migration issues, while creating the capacity for making proposals and road maps to help national and regional authorities to incorporate migration issues into development policies, including the promotion of the rights of migrants. The Forums will ensure better understanding of migrant flows, their importance, composition, inherent constraints and potential, as well as a better appreciation of the positive role civil society can play in the formulation of economic policies that take account of the needs and potential of migrants. This will also facilitate enhanced use of the necessary economic and legal information to better understand the socio-economic stakes of migration. * Building Civil Society capacities with the objective of ensuring the selection of organisations on the basis of predefined criteria ( representivity , credibility , neutrality, motivation, etc.) , promoting greater visibility for the public-private dialogue on migration issues, and mastering institutional communication tools (lobbying/ advocacy ). The Facility will also enable civil society to participate more actively in the dialogue on migration, especially in the framework of the Forums facilitated by the Project. Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to pose a few questions regarding the mobility of people. How many of us are living outside our countries of birth? How many of us are enticed or forced to migrate and eventually find means of subsistence outside our countries of birth? How many of us are willingly leaving our countries of birth to get a better chance to study, work, and settle in a new environment? These questions should not remain unanswered, and as such, the ACP Group is actively working at defining a common strategy that is people-focused, based on the alleviation of poverty and the eventual promotion of sustainable development. I am also a migrant, and so are most of us. Therefore, we should all endeavor to develop policies and programmes that are focused on the well-being of our peoples. This is why the focus of the global debate on migration and development is so important – to look at possible solutions in a new, innovative and, overall, positive way. The ACP Group of States is committed to ensure that the rights of its citizens are respected, and that they can exercise their right to travel from one country to another. Surely, the deep roots of migration are linked to poverty, resulting in hunger, conflicts and the anxiety to move away in search of a better life. Europe is bound to cooperate and collaborate with its neighbours and partners, such as the ACP Group, and the Group has taken the initiative to make migration and mobility a priority. In this regard, we have assumed our responsibility and role on the international scene, and will also continue to participate in global events, such as the forthcoming global Forum on Migration and Development, which will take place in Brussels during July 2007. The best route to address migrant problems remains development - it is only in ensuring that people have a decent and respectful life in their own countries, that we will better manage the fight against irregular migration and associated criminality. I thank you. |
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