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[ Comment ]

False promises

The opening of the Migration Information and Management Centre (CIGEM) in Bamako, the capital of Mali, is certainly one of the most noticeable measures the European Union has taken to influence migration flows. It is doubtful, however, whether the EU will keep the promises it makes.

The pompous opening of the Migration Information and Management Centre (CIGEM), in early October, was proof of high expectations. Not only did Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Touré attend the ceremony, but so did high-ranking EU representatives such as Louis Michel, the Europe’s commissioner for development, and Brice Hortefeux, the French minister for immigration as representative of the EU presidency.

According to the European Commission, the centre will “facilitate legal migration to Europe, while reducing illegal immigration”. The Commission hopes to achieve this by “presenting Malians with employment opportunities in Europe and issuing visas for the duration of the work contract”. Europe sees this approach as support for poor countries. It is however doubtful whether the € 37 million project will keep such promises. Earlier experiences and recent policy choices point in another direction.

In neighbouring Mauretania, for instance, the government of Spain has been funding an accommodation centre for “illegal” immigrants since 2006. The centre is situated in the town of Nouadhibou at the Atlantic coast, from where many Africans set out to reach the European “Eldorado”. Its purpose is to send migrants back to their countries of origin. At least, that was the fate of the 3533 West-African migrants, who were accommodated at the centre in Nouadhibou last year after attempting to enter Spain illegally. All were sent back to their countries of origin.

Only highly qualified migrants are welcome in Europe, as was once again emphasised in the “European Pact on Immigration and Asylum”, which the European Union agreed on the 16th of October. No doubt, the CIGEM in Bamako was also established with this goal in mind. The European Union is tightening its migration policy rather than loosening it up. The policy includes repatriation agreements with countries of origin. Migrants who entered the EU illegally, can, according to the EU guidelines, be kept in custody for up to six months awaiting deportation. By 2012 biometrical visas will also be issued. Overstaying a visa, will thus become virtually impossible. Moreover, EU members are expected to speed up deportation procedures.

The EU’s goal is to influence migration flows to meet European needs, which are defined by European labour markets and limited by the “capacities” of member-states’ social-security systems. The German NGO Pro-Asylum describes the pact as a „unilateral decree“, arguing that the EU only wants highly qualified migrants or seasonal workers, who accept conditions that Europeans themselves would not endure. Consequently, the EU pact also clarifies that the EU does not have the capacity to accommodate all migrants in search of a better life. Of course, that applies to many of those who by-pass Bamako or Nouadhibou and risk their lives in order to reach Europe.

Many human-rights organisations and many Africans therefore see CIGEM as “yet another step towards fortress Europe”. From their point of view, the centre is meant to frighten potential migrants and to stem what is considered “illegal” migration. That is also how many Africans consider it.

The centre’s primary function is to stop potential migrants from attempting the journey to Europe. The CIGEM Chairman, Abdulaye Konate, admits that “reducing illegal migration to Europe is our main goal”, though he claims that “it is not the only one”. For him “aligning the European and West-African labour markets according to demand and supply, in order to improve employment opportunities for West-Africans, holds the same or even more importance”. For many, this idea only resembles a faint glimmer of hope, given that the EU’s new emphasis on cooperation with transit countries, like Mauretania, and those of origin tends to focus on other issues than labour market opportunities.

D+C, 2008/11, Debate, Page 439