It was not actually a summit on migration but the increasing importance of the strategic partnership between Europe and Africa meant that the subject was on everybody’s lips on Wednesday 29 November in Abidjan, at the opening of the African Union/European Union summit. There was also “extremely strong” confirmation of the scandal involving migrants who are suspected or falling victim to slavery in Libya. A promise was made to investigate this question.
The young Europeans and Africans who made recommendations to the heads of state and government were particularly passionate because they realised that the summit’s theme was “Investing in Youth for a Sustainable Future” (see EUROPE 11910, 11903).
At the beginning of the summit, they appealed for access to education, skills, mobility and their rights, as well as involvement in the peace and security process as part of the application of the Security Council’s resolution 2250. They stated, “We are asking you to make a commitment to promoting entrepreneurship as a means of fighting youth unemployment. Young Africans are experiencing difficult times, particularly those in Libya, who want to go to Europe. The future is in Africa. Slavery is something that we cannot tolerate. Make the decisions that can save the youth in Africa. We do not want speeches from you but rather action”.
In all five areas the messages were received loud and clear in an effort to demonstrate this importance to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. The latter declared, “Our task as leaders is to make decisions that make the future safer and more prosperous for our youth irrespective of whether they are African or European”. At a time when more voices are being raised to criticise Europe for having externalised its policy for managing African migration flows, he added, “The recent reports on the treatment of Africans – especially young people – by smugglers and traffickers are horrific. More than 5,000 people drowned in the Mediterranean last year. We cannot accept this. Neither can we accept comments that pit Africa against Europe”.
AU/EU/UN Task force
At the same time, the European Commission announced in a press release the decision taken by the UN, AU and EU to set up a joint task force, “to save and protect lives of migrants and refugees along the routes and in particular inside Libya, accelerating the assisted voluntary returns to countries of origin, and the resettlement of those in need of international protection”. The work of this task force will be undertaken in coordination with the Libyan authorities. The European Union will therefore continue to financially support the International Migration Organisation (IMO) and the UNHCR, as it has been doing so already for more than a year.
The President of the African Union, Alfa Condé, called for “an implacable fight against the trafficking of human beings”. He declared that, “We robustly condemn the acts committed on the migration route; the international community must take strong measures to put an end to these intolerable crimes of a bygone age”. He stressed that peace, security and sustainable development were the basis of an Africa/EU partnership and was delighted that, “the priorities of this summit – peace and security and economic and social development – have been chosen by Africa”.
On the previous day, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, was keen to point out that, “the images we have seen are shocking but as an Italian, I can tell you that they are not new”.
At the closure of the summit of the European and Pan-African parliamentary summit, co-chaired by Nkodo Dang, the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said that it was “obvious this is happening elsewhere”. The two institutions signed a joint declaration asserting the importance of the role of the national and transnational parliaments in democratisation and cooperation between the EU and the AU, as well as the shared determination for a political partnership between the two continents as a means of tackling common challenges. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)