Focus on Migration: Moving backward, moving forward? Volume 7, Issue 1 (Winter 2018)

The contributors of this Great Insights on migration looked at policy frameworks and processes, existing realities and ongoing initiatives, as well as possible ways forward. The issue explores not only the complex challenges but also the potential that human mobility holds for development.

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    Focus on Migration: Moving backward, moving forward? – Editorial
    Anna Knoll, Head of Migration Programme and Noemi Cascone, Junior Policy Officer, ECDPM

    The migration situation has monopolized the agenda of European leaders during past years. The EU’s external policies have been focusing on addressing the ‘root causes’ of migration, and utilising the EU toolbox to establish partnerships on border governance, management of migration, security, and development.

    Policy frameworks and processes

    Migration and development: A virtuous circle
    Louise Arbour, UN Special Representative for International Migration
    Migration is an overwhelmingly positive story, with significant social, economic, and cultural benefits for all involved. The global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration is a unique opportunity to remove barriers that are hindering the development contribution of migration.

    The AU-EU Summit, migration, mobility and youth
    Birgitte Markussen, Director and Deputy Managing Director for Africa, European External Action Service, Brussels

    The way migration and mobility will be managed politically and accommodated economically will be a defining factor for the future of Africa and of Europe. This article looks at the AU-EU Summit held in November 2017.

    Forced displacement and mixed migration challenges in the IGAD region
    Caroline Njuki, Senior Programme Coordinator and Woldamlak Abera, Forced Displacement Officer, IGAD
    This article looks at the dynamics and trends of forced displacement and mixed
    migration from a practitioners’ point of view at the IGAD level. It highlights key focus areas and issues in the region.

    Regional governance regimes to foster labour mobility and development
    Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, Deputy Director DST/NRF, University of Pretoria

    Most international migration in Africa is intracontinental, essentially occurring between proximate states in the same regional bloc. It is mixed, but semi-skilled and unskilled labour migration, and mobility involving informal cross-border traders and service providers merit special attention.

    Migration is not an emergency
    Elly Schlein, MEP and the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE)

    Migration is becoming central in EU development policy. A host of measures have been announced and instruments set up to use development funds to address migration’s ‘root causes’. These bring the risk of an EU development cooperation increasingly driven by short-term and EU-centric political needs. What we need, instead, is an EU migration policy aligned with the historic commitments of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    Realities on the ground

    Gendered effects of corruption on the Central Mediterranean route
    Vittorio Bruni, consultant, and Ortrun Merkle, PhD fellow, UNU-MERIT and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
    Corruption plays a prominent role in shaping migration decisions and experiences along the Central Mediterranean route. It is also a highly gendered phenomenon, as men are more likely to pay with money and women with their bodies.

    Migration policies and development: The dilemma of Agadez
    Fransje Molenaar, Research fellow at the Conflict Research Unit (CRU), Clingendael Institute

    Migration policies can only contribute to the stability and development of transit regions if they are founded on an understanding of the links between migration, economic development, governance and security.

    Storm in the Central Mediterranean: European priorities, Libyan realities
    Daniel Howden, Senior Editor at Refugees Deeply

    Libya finds itself at the nexus of strident efforts by the EU to put a short-term brakeon inward migration. A veil of humanitarian language conceals deals that sacrifice basic human rights and regional stability. The consequences include trapped refugees and migrants and a weakened system of international law.

    Helping refugees become self-reliant: the Ugandan model
    Muhumed Hussein, Uganda Country Director and Leeam Azoulay, East-Africa Policy Adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council
    Uganda’s refugee policies should serve as a model, but challenges remain in helping refugees become self-reliant. The case of Uganda invites us to recognise that solutions to displacement are all about policies – those of host countries and those of the international community regarding responsibility sharing.

    Existing initiatives and ideas

    Building resilience, creating new opportunities in the EU neighbourhood
    Dario Scannapieco, Vice-President at the European Investment Bank
    As part of the EU response to migration, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is stepping up its investment support, including a new Economic Resilience Initiative (ERI) to enhance growth prospects and create opportunities in neighbouring countries.

    The EU’s migration agenda – what about legal migration pathways?
    Anna Knoll, Head of Migration Programme and Noemi Cascone, Junior Policy Officer, ECDPM
    Legal migration is often noted as one of the ways to counter smuggling and irregular migration. With the European Commission’s recent political roadmap for a sustainable migration policy pathways for legal economic migration seem to emerge from oblivion. The article highlights a number of issues with regards to the EU’s legal migration agenda.

    Shift the paradigm, from charity to crypto space
    Kilian Kleinschmidt, founder and CEO of IPA, switxboard GmbH
    The aid system is not only broke, it’s breaking apart. It is now little more than a humanitarian relief industry. The aid system has failed in its stated goals to save lives and provide basic assistance with dignity to those in crisis at the scale needed.

    Leveraging migration for progress towards the 2030 Agenda
    David Suttie, Policy Advisor, IFAD and Rosemary Vargas-Lundius, former Policy Advisor, IFAD
    Migration and mobility provide a real opportunity to unlock progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For this, policies and investments need to be adapted to the realities of populations that are on the move.

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