Valletta, 12/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Valletta on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 November for a summit on immigration and the structural causes of this, over 50 European and African leaders discussed a political declaration and a plan of common action. The most important elements of these are based on EU aid in terms of legal migration (for example, the number of exchange programmes for African students and researchers will be doubled by 2016), and are based on financial aid that is intended to assist the socio-economic development of Africa from the trust fund for Africa (see other article) in exchange for increased cooperation from African partners in taking back migrants who are living illegally in the EU, and encouraging their nationals to remain in Africa.
The Europeans came to Valletta in particular so that the existing agreements might be applied - such as the Cotonou Agreement that obliges the countries linked to it to take back their nationals. The Europeans also wanted to discuss the possibility of concluding new readmission agreements, if necessary, and in exchange for this, launching dialogues on visas. They also wanted to encourage their African partners to improve their identification of migrants and their travel documents, as well as the civil status register - shortcomings which are sometimes obstacles to returns and justification for the African countries not to take back the people that the EU member states want to return to them.
The EU, which only has a readmission agreement with Cape Verde for the African continent, has had to make a few concessions and handle sensitive issues. As regards the returns, therefore, the European side recognises in the final declarations that it agrees to give “preference” to “voluntary returns”, which means in practice that the migrant, once informed of his return to his country of origin or transit, is not opposed to this. Preference being given to voluntary returns was a strong demand for the Africans, even if - in reality - this should nevertheless not prevent the Europeans from proceeding to forced returns, some sources said.
Another concession made to Africa is that the standard so-called “EU pass” document (which should facilitate the return of a migrant without papers to his country of departure) should be removed from the final statement, as the African side was opposed to it. The final declaration thus mentions (relatively vague) pilot projects between the EU, the associated countries and Africa on a complete approach to “safe returns and reinsertion” for which “a partner country commits to cooperating closely with the European Union on the return and readmission, especially on the identification and travel documentation”. As part of this, the cooperating country will receive “support for the individual reinsertion of its own nationals or the facilitation of visas”. African immigration officers will also come to Europe to help check and identify the nationalities of irregular migrants, and practices as regards documents will have to come closer together.
On arriving in Valletta on Wednesday 11 November, Senegal's President Macky Sall conceded immediately that the issue of returns and readmission was “difficult”. “We cannot engage in this debate (…) from Europe's point of view because we have populations that have often braved death in terrible conditions, who have crossed the desert and the Mediterranean. There have been thousands of deaths, and some people have survived”, Sall said. “I think that we should have a frank discussion about those who are already in Europe - look at those who can be regularised, and for the others we will study what is the best way to manage this issue according to the agreements that link us to the European Union”, he continued.
Another sensitive issue which was avoid ahead of the Valetta meeting is the creation of centres for migrants and potential EU asylum seekers. These centres are no longer spoken about as such, but the final draft speaks of the possibility of jointly exploring the concept of “strengthened capacities in the priority regions” on the most used migration routes in Africa - with possible projects being conducted as part of this by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
European Council President Donald Tusk described the two days of talks at the Valletta summit as “frank and constructive”. The aim of the summit was essentially to speak about the deep-rooted and structural reasons for the migration of African nationals to the EU, although the current crisis is taking place on the Balkans route in particular. For Africa, the Valletta summit will have enabled a series of practical initiatives to be compiled - like the launch of an information campaign for asylum seekers, the implementation of units to fight human traffickers and smugglers (a pilot project has been launched in Niger), and more political measures such as strengthening the rule of law. Other causes nevertheless remain extremely difficult to handle - like the poverty or political instability, and the armed conflicts that both parties have committed to try and prevent in the future. In the action plan, the participants remained very general on the actions to conduct, which will have to focus on supporting inclusive economic growth, thanks to investment opportunities and job creation for young people especially, or improving the means for living sustainably and opportunities for self-sufficiency.
At a press conference, Sall also called for fair payment for African natural resources, and for their processing on the African continent, which would permit job creation. He criticised tax evasion on the part of multinationals and the fraudulent transfer of resources. In his view, these two activities are estimated at over €60 billion per year. “The repatriation of 17% of these resources will enable Africa to move beyond development aid and to repay its debt”, he said. Neither Tusk nor Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reacted to this statement. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Camille-Cerise Gessant)