How is EU money allocated and spent in Africa when it comes to migration? Is this money used for development purposes? Does it help migrants and refugees? By focusing on one of the main EU financial instruments for migration, the new CONCORD report (available in EN, FR, CZ) analyses the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and more specifically its implementation in 3 key partner countries: Libya, Niger and Ethiopia.
WHAT IS THE TRUST FUND?
In order to promote a comprehensive response to the “migration crisis”, the EU has, in the past years, developed several instruments, from which the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) and the Migration Compacts are among the most critical ones.
The Trust Fund is the main financial instrument for EU’s political engagement with African partners in the field of migration. This fund is made of 90% of Development money (ODA = Official Development Assistance). This should imply that the fund is used a development instrument, respecting development principles.
The Migration Compact is a partnership framework introducing conditionalities with third countries and strengthening the externalisation of EU migration policy.
OUR REPORT:
Our report, available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Czech, monitors these instruments, by analysing the way these funds are used and the possible consequences they have on the ground. Concretely, our report looks at 3 countries: Libya, Niger and Ethiopia. Through these case studies, CONCORD report questions whether the EUTF’s implementation is actually guided by the key principles of development effectiveness, or if it constitutes a “diversion” of aid, justified by the EU’s migration agenda, namely in limiting the number of arrivals in Europe.
The report concludes and denounces the EUTF as a major political hook.
EU Migration Compacts address only partially the drivers of forced migration, which requires a long-term, coherent and sustainable approach. They keep on focusing on “quick fixes” (border controls and returns) and this is the main reason for their failure. Projects deviate migration flows towards alternative dangerous routes and indirectly contribute to inhumane conditions and endangering human rights.
The EU needs to reform the Trust Fund, and more broadly its overall migration policy, and use this kind of instruments as the main tool to increase community resilience.
LIBYA
NIGER
ETHIOPIA
Thousands of migrants hosted
Thousands of migrants transiting
Thousands of migrants
Million of people in need of humanitarian assistance
%
People live below the poverty line
%
People live below the poverty line
Millions of funds allocated under the EUTF
Millions of funds allocated under the EUTF
Millions of funds allocated under the EUTF
READ THE PUBLICATION: