Professor Lino Briguglio has been invited by the European Association of Development Institutes (EADI) to convene and chair a panel session on illegal migration from North Africa to the EU, as part of the EADI general conference, scheduled to be held in Bonn between September 21 and 24.

The EADI general conference on Security and Development will take place at the well-known international congress centre, formerly housing the German Federal Parliament. The conference is held every three years and assembles more than 500 participants including high-level government representatives, decision makers and scholars.

The current wave of legal and illegal migration from North African countries into the EU has a number of humanitarian, economic, social and political repercussions affecting the migrants themselves as well as the host country.

One major effect is the fuelling of racial hatred in the host countries. Another relates to the heavy pressure on the Mediterranean EU members to provide temporary food and shelter for the thousands of illegal migrants who manage to land through Europe's Southern borders in makeshift boats.

The flow of illegal migration has led to calls and plans to strengthen border security, and a European security zone for protection against illegal immigration via the Mediterranean Sea was proposed.

There is an urgent need for governments to co-operate on this issue. Migration, legal and illegal, occurs to a large extent as a result of bad economic prospects and political instability in the countries of origin, and the issue is therefore not just one of improving border security, but also of promoting economic development and good governance in the North African countries. The Euro-Med process could be an important factor in this regard.

Another consideration is that the EU member states need migrants, given the slow population growth rates, work preferences, and economic growth in EU member states. The issue of a properly thought out EU migration policy is therefore called for.

The panellists will be asked to contribute papers on humanitarian, economic, social and political issues related to legal and illegal migration, and on the role that the Euro-Med Process can play in this regard.

It is envisaged that there will be six panellists, including the conveners. For more information visit http://eadi.org/gc2005/parallel_session_IIIA.php .