Brussels, 17/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 December, the European Union announced the launch of 16 actions to remedy the deep-rooted causes of illegal migration and forced displacements in the Horn of Africa.
The actions will be given nearly €300 million in total from the emergency trust fund for Africa (which was officially launched at the extraordinary EU-Africa summit in Malta in mid-November - see EUROPE 11429 and 11451). The actions aim at promoting the voluntary return and sustainable reintegration of migrants in their countries of origin.
The EU's decision focuses on the first ten actions (to be given €253 m) in the following areas: - fighting the trafficking of humans and migrants (€40 m); - creating perspectives for employment in the regions of Ethiopia from which flows of migrants set off (€67 m); - facilitating the return of Somali refugees, who have found shelter in the Horn of Africa and in Europe, to stable zones in Somalia (€50 m); - improving the integration of South Sudanese refugees into host communities in Uganda, or creating appropriate conditions for their return (€14.3 million); - supporting implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan and the return of internally displaced people to their regions of origin (€77.6 million); - creating a structure for research and data collection (€4.1 m). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)