According to the third progress report published by the European Commission and European External Action Service on Thursday 2 March, ahead of the European Council on 9-10 March (see other article), tangible progress has been achieved on implementing partnerships for migration between the EU and five priority African countries – Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal – but efforts should be stepped up to obtain more results.
Since June 2016 when the partnership framework was adopted, the fight against migrant trafficking and human smuggling has taken shape, as has the assistance to migrants. In 2017, European 'migration' liaison officers were deployed in five countries, the report states.
In Niger (a transit country for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean), the number of migrants benefitting from EU support in centres managed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) doubled in 2016, to over 15,000. Almost 5,000 people were assisted with voluntary returns to their communities of origin, and nine development projects worth a total of €139 million are currently being financed by the EU Trust Fund for Africa (see EUROPE 11690). Niger is the first beneficiary of this €2.5 billion trust fund (which comes from the EU budget and European Development Fund, as well as €152 million in current member state contributions) to tackle the deep-rooted causes of irregular migration in the countries of the Sahel/Lake Chad, Horn of Africa and North Africa.
In total, €1.5 billion has been mobilised from the EU Trust Fund for Africa and 106 projects have currently been adopted – including 42 new programmes approved in December, worth €587 million. As part of this, projects have been approved that aim to support the reintegration of returned migrants and the creation of jobs in Mali (the country currently chairing the Rabat Process) and Senegal.
The negotiations on a readmission agreement with Nigeria are ongoing and the EU hopes this agreement can be concluded by June 2017.
In Ethiopia (which has chaired the Khartoum Process since December 2016), the EU would like to step up cooperation on migrant returns and readmission. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)