Morocco hosting conference on migration and development

Despite Malta's urgings, the Euro-African ministerial conference on migration and development, to be held here next month (July 10-11), is set to exclude Horn of Africa states - the source of many illegal immigrants into the central Mediterranean.

Hosted by Morocco, the conference is co-organised by Spain and the European Commission. The participants' list issued by the Moroccan foreign ministry includes Switzerland, Norway, Bulgaria and Romania in addition to EU-25 and international organisations, but only contains 24 West and Central African countries, plus Egypt, Tunisia, Libya as 'transit' nations.

Moreover, the Moroccan ministry's 'draft concept paper' states that the 'innovative partnership' emerging from the conference covering all the migration routes from Central and West Africa will be aimed at being applicable "to other routes for example, those from East Africa."

A second conference to take place in Libya is supposed to deal with migrant flows from the Horn: but so far no date has been fixed. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Michael Frendo confirmed to The Sunday Times that Malta continued to urge that the Libyan conference date must be announced ahead of the Rabat meeting. Moroccan Foreign Ministry officials repeatedly contacted by The Sunday Times here were not available for comment.

In line with EU summit's conclusions adopted in Brussels on Friday for an overall EU approach to illegal immigration, the Moroccan government is proposing a comprehensive strategy rooted in enhanced Euro-African development co-operation and joint management of migratory flows. A series of action plans would be accompanied by mechanisms to monitor their implementation.

Measures proposed for adoption by the ministerial conference under enhanced development co-operation include support to improved governance in African nations, poverty reduction, sustainable development, fulfilment of the UN Millennium Development Goals as well as full implementation of the Cotonou agreement between the EU and 64 African, Asian, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the recently adopted EU Strategy for Africa.

The draft concept paper asserts that better use should be made of the potential of properly regulated emigration as a factor for development, modernisation and innovation in source countries by facilitating transfers, vocational training and professional qualification of legal immigrants. Their voluntary return after EU work experience could be promoted by setting up locally-based projects for economic reinsertion and strengthening links between the diaspora already in Europe and home countries.

The paper lists a series of specific recommendations for adoption by ministers relating to the need to optimise legal migration in the light of common interests as well as the fight against xenophobia and racism; facilitating access to the European labour market based on an information exchange mechanism; initiatives favouring productive investments promoting development and political stability in African countries, including channels for productive local use of migrants' savings.

A coherent approach to joint management of migrant flows would assist African countries in managing migration at source while including legal, police and judicial co-operation to combat illegal immigration, dismantle trafficking gangs, and crack down on 'mafias' exploiting the immigrants in their country of arrival while eliminating 'non-declared' work structures supplied by traffickers.

Readmission agreements for the repatriation of illegal migrants should be concluded with all source countries, the Moroccan paper states, while public information campaigns should also be launched there about the dangers and disadvantages of illegal immigration.