Managing Changing Migration Dynamics and Policies in West Africa for Regional Gain

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CHAPTERS 

[00:00:00]: Why most West African migration stays within West Africa 

[00:03:13]: How ECOWAS tries to make free movement a reality 

[00:07:02]: Where EU migration programs help — and where they do harm 

[00:10:30]: How climate change is driving displacement and conflict 

[00:24:55]: What balanced Africa-Europe migration cooperation could look like 

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:03.13] 

Hi, welcome back to the World of Migration, a podcast from the Migration Policy Institute that delves into interesting topic on immigration, immigrant integration and humanitarian protection with some of the world's big thinkers and policymakers. My name is Camille Le Coz and I'm your host today and an Associate Director at MPI Europe. In this episode, we'll take a dive into migration dynamics in West Africa, what's new and how African leaders are responding to these trends. We'll also discuss what could be done to bridge the gap between European and African policymakers and move towards safer and better managed migration between the two continents. In the past decades, government in West Africa have directed more attention to better managing migration. Leaders in the free movement area, called ECOWAS, have become more interested in boosting remittances, better connecting this financial flow with investment opportunities, as well as working with diaspora to encourage development benefits. In turn, they've sought to promote safe and legal pathways and to make recruitment practices safer and fairer. And in parallel, there have been growing concerns about border security. West African leaders are now trying to prevent the spillover of armed groups while also supporting cross-border trade and other livelihood activities.

[00:01:23.09] 

In parallel, European donors have supported the drafting of national migration policies in West Africa and they have funded various actions to fight smuggling and trafficking and ease the reintegration of migrants returning from Europe and other parts of the world. These efforts have been part of a broader agenda to curb irregular arrivals to Europe and to negotiate return and readmission agreement. And we'll talk about the implication of this political orientation and capacity building efforts. And today I'm delighted to be joined by Leander Kandilige to discuss all these issues. Leander is a Senior Lecturer at the Center for Migration Study at the University of Ghana. He's been conducting research on migration trends and policy for many years with a focus on labor migration in Africa. Most recently, Leander has been involved in the MIDEQ project which seeks to examine the relationship among migration inequality and development within South's migration corridors. He's also conducted a rapid assessment of the effect of COVID 19 on access to social protection by migrants who work in the informal sector in Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi, Cameroon and Morocco. And finally, Leander is a member of the Advisor Group of the MPI Bosch Initiative Beyond Territorial Asylum.

[00:02:38.08] 

Making Protection Work in a Bordered World. Leander, welcome.

[00:02:43.21] 

Hello. I'm glad to have the opportunity to share some perspectives on the governance of migration within the West African context as well as relations in the EU.

[00:02:54.18] 

I'll start with a question about what has changed in the region in the past few years because we've seen many policy development, many new program that have sought to shape what migration trends look like in West Africa. But can you maybe start with an overview of what are the most salient transformations?

[00:03:13.07] 

Right, so I want to start here by noting that the West African sub region has an active population and then the average age is about 15 years for up to 47% of the population. And this naturally has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to mobility and migration aspirations of the largely youthful population within the region. But then the main vehicle for the governance of migration has been the establishment of ECOWAS, which is a regional economic community which has an aim of promoting economic integration across the West African sub region by creating a single regional economic space to promote collective self resilience processes of countries in the sub region, but also to promote cooperation and integration in social and cultural activities, but most especially for free mobility within the community for its citizens. Now there have been several programs that have taken place within the ECOWAS space, but I want to focus on two main programs. The first one is the Free Movement of Persons and Migration in West Africa. That's the FFM West Africa project which aims to maximize the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in West Africa.

[00:04:35.14] 

And this is done by effectively looking at the implementation of the ECOWAS Free Movement Protocol and then the ECOWAS common approach on migration. And the main areas of focus for this particular one is on data management, border management, labor migration and counter trafficking. And the strategy here is to do so at three spatial levels, at the ECOWAS Commission level, the national level, and also the sub national level. And they have three clear priorities for this particular approach. One is to strengthen the capacity of the ECOWAS Commission to lead to an intra regional dialog on free movement and migration issues and also to act as a platform for policy development and then harmonization. Secondly, to strengthen the capacities at the national level institutions of ECOWAS member states in the areas of migration, data management in the area of migration policy development, and then border management, labor migration and counter trafficking, and then finally to promote active engagement of non-state actors and local authorities in information and protection activities for the benefit of migrants and also cross border populations within the sub region.

[00:05:52.24] 

Thank you very much Leander for walking us through the story of the ECOWAS area, but also mentioning one of these development projects that are really thought to make the freedom of movement in the region effective. You mentioned a second project. Can you tell us a bit more about what that's been about.

[00:06:11.10] 

So the second project is the Migration Dialog for West Africa, also known as MIDWA. And this is just a platform for ECOWAS member states to be able to discuss at the regional level common migration issues, challenges, but also opportunities which typically cannot be addressed by a single state in isolation. And it allows for the cooperation between ECOWAS as a bloc, but also third countries as well as other international consultative fora on free movement and migration. So this second initiative that I'm talking about has different thematic focuses. If I may touch on just three of them. One area of interest is migration data and then statistics, but also protection of migrant rights and issues of climate change. And I'm happy to expand on these as the conversation progresses.

[00:07:02.24] 

Thanks for outlining this other project and really all of this question around migration governance and improving freedom of movement in the region. It's interesting you talk about this one because you know, a number of researchers have argued in recent years EU program have really focused on border management, anti smuggling, anti trafficking efforts and that they have  on the contrary, I would say hampered the freedom of movement within the region. Is that what you've also witnessed in your research or would you argue, on the contrary, freedom of movement, you know, thanks to a number of this initiative has actually moved forward and become more of a reality for the people who live there.

[00:07:42.07] 

Okay, thank you very much for this. Actually, this is a controversial issue, I must say. On the one hand, the financial and practical support that the EU has been providing to West African states as well as ECOWAS as a collective have generally enhanced the region's ability to develop policy responses to emerging trends that are associated with migration and mobility. The issue of human trafficking and smuggling is real and the West African governments routinely lack the capacity to deal effectively with these threats without external funding. I'll provide you with one practical example. In the case of Ghana, there was a regional security conference that was organized and facilitated by ICMPD, which is the International center for Migration Policy Development in Ghana and all the relevant security agencies for Ghana, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso participated in this conference in 2021 and the conference resulted in a joint communique on border management, intelligence gathering and sharing and cross border collaborations among others. Now you can see that this will have a real positive impact on the beneficiary countries. However, on the other hand, you also have EU programs that have sought to stop irregular migration from West Africa to the EU and these programs have had negative impacts on freedom of movement within ECOWAS.

[00:09:08.11] 

A prime example, if I may add is that of the EU preying on impoverished Niger to sign a migration management deal in 2015 in exchange for a considerable amount of cash and logistical support. Now this deal has led to the criminalization of all ECOWA citizens who travel to Nigeria because the assumption is that all West Africans in Niger are automatically destined for Europe through Libya. Now this has fundamentally worked against the freedom of movement rights that are enshrined in the ECOWAS's Free Movement Protocol. So this is just an example of how it works both ways. So it's not a straightforward.

[00:09:49.24] 

Yeah, it's not and thanks for outlining that that it's not black and white. But actually all of this program are much more nuanced and have also had different effect on different in the region. You mentioned climate change and the effect of climate change on migration trends. And that's something I'd like to go back to because I think that's something we're going to see increasingly in the region that's probably also going to become increasingly controversial in the way it's addressed. Do you already see that in your research, how it's affected community in border or in areas that are that have been primarily affected by this negative effect?

[00:10:30.18] 

Yes, it's quite obvious that some of the movement, especially the internal migration dimension, you can see that it is informed by climate change effects. And this is not lost on the policymakers in the West African subregion. So they are certainly aware of what is going on. And our research also shows that climate change has had this negative implication on populations and inter community relations. It has contributed to lower yields, it has led to displacement of communities that rely on rain-fed agriculture and it has also led to competition for scarce water. Conflicts have ensued between the Fulani nomadic people and then settled communities in countries like Ghana and elsewhere. As such, these governments are grappling with the economic, social, political and then security dimensions of climate change and the involuntary migration that is triggered as a result of that. So these are borne out by research. And you can see the patterns of movement from arid and semi arid areas to places where they can engage in non-agricultural jobs. So it's leading to rural urban migration as well as some level of international migration.

[00:11:45.05] 

And you've talked about how this is not lost on this part of government in West Africa. And I precisely would like to turn to that because a number of these government have adopted or updated the national migration policies. And it's also been interesting to see growing peer support in the region. I mean, you've worked a lot in Ghana Ghana Cooley as a leadership in the area of labor migration, we've also seen how Senegal has sought to promote its model of local migration governance with other countries like Guinea. Would you say overall what we're seeing is, you know, a way toward better migrate managed migration in the region with like better policy, but also policies that are actually being enforced and are just not beautiful paper that, that are, that are being published.

[00:12:37.21] 

Yes, I mean personally. And then from the point of view of research, empirical evidence, you can see that we are on our way to better migration management. Because migration policies, whether we are talking about national migration policies, labor migration policies or diaspora engagement policies, these are critical when it comes to standardizing approaches to create a sense of belongingness for migrants, extending rights to migrants, but also extracting obligations from migrants and then the members of the West African diaspora. So the drafting of these policies at the national level allows for the brainstorming among multiple stakeholders on national priorities. Also looking at the bundle of rights that can be extended to migrants, touching on institutional frameworks for coordinating migration-related issues and then also working out the best ways of harnessing the benefits of migration and avenues for collaborating with other countries towards mutual protection of rights. So on a whole you can see that the intention is right. The processes of developing policies is leading to this trend and paving the way towards a well managed migration within the sub region of West Africa.

[00:13:53.11] 

Thank you for this optimistic outlook in a field that's often very negative and I think to follow up on this. So we've said there's been better policies from your perspective. However, what are the key ingredients that are still missing, especially in the field of labor migration? Because we've seen that that's an area where the recruitment, for example, of migrant worker is still often done in a way that's not necessarily fair, not necessarily safe. From your perspective and maybe looking at the case of Ghana, where you've done extensive work, what's missing?

[00:14:31.01] 

So I think there's still this need for ethical recruitment of labor migrants and this has to be done in a way that protects them from exploitation issues of abuse, discrimination and xenophobic attacks. Now there should be bilateral agreements between origin countries and their popular destination countries. And these bilateral agreements will have to insist on a rights-based recruitment of migrants and then the extension of social protection to migrants, especially during global health emergencies like what happened during COVID but also man made and then natural disasters. When they happen, there need to be protections for migrants. Another critical issue that needs to be looked at when it comes to labor migration has to do with the portability of Social Security contributions, because this has severe implications on the welfare and well being of migrants, especially during emergencies. Now, in terms of boosting relations or engagements with the diaspora community, there is the need for governments to also move away from this constant extraction of obligations from the diaspora members, especially in the form of remittances, to a balance. They need to balance this with extension of rights to the diaspora members, which will include largely labor migrants.

[00:15:56.02] 

The current approach, in my view, is exploitative and is too extractive. So we need to move to a position where we have a quid pro quo scenario between extension of rights on the one hand, but also extraction of obligations. So you cannot expect that we are taken from migrants without advancing the same protections that they need to be able to be safe and then productive in their destination countries.

[00:16:25.09] 

Yeah, thank you for outlining that, because I think that's a bit different from the discourse we usually hear about diaspora and the benefits that comes with diaspora engagement in a number of countries. From your perspective, what remained the main obstacle to that? Why are government reluctant to engage more in this area?

[00:16:50.15] 

So governments are interested in the extractive aspect. So they want the remittances, they want the skills transfers, they want the investment. But then when it comes to extended rights, like voting rights to diaspora members, it becomes tricky. There's a lot of politics around the diaspora vote, changing local results during a general election, for instance. And I cite a practical example in the case of Ghana, where in 2006 there was a law that extended the right to all Ghanaians abroad, all Ghanaian diaspora members who are duly registered to be able to participate in national elections. But till date, that law hasn't been implemented because of logistical constraints, or at least that's what the politicians say, you see. So when it comes to extracting of remittances, governments are ready to do that by extension of rights. The ability to hold dual citizenship is a challenge in some countries. Those who have lost their citizenship because they've taken on citizenships of some countries that do not allow you to hold both, like in the case of Germany, they have to be granted the right of abode to be able to be exempted from the requirement of getting visas to go home, these are all steps that could potentially be taken to improve the engagement between governments and then the diaspora community, which then gives the governments the moral kind of courage and right to be able to expect remittances and then transfer of skills and knowledge and investment income from the diaspora.

[00:18:23.16] 

And I think this lead us also to a broader discussion on the relationship between Europe and Africa on this topic, because from all the political discussion that we've been witnessing in the past years, it's clear there is a wide gap. And you've been working in Ghana and all over Africa for decades. You also spend time in Europe. So according to you, what do you think are the main mismatches between leaders on the two sides?

[00:18:54.06] 

Right. So it's an interesting scenario that we find ourselves in. On the one hand, you have Europe that simply wants to get rid of irregular migrants full stop and to prevent the arrival of others. So in effect what has happened is led to this development of a combination of preventive and defensive measures by the EU. And they are doing this through buying the cooperation of West African nation states to implement more stringent migration and border control outside the EU territory. On the one hand, the defensive mechanism is operated through externalization of migration control responsibilities, securitization, return and then removal of undocumented migrants. Then on the other hand, the preventive measures include the creation of jobs in communities of origin, cooperation for development and then temporary migration programs. Now on the flip side, on the part of the African leaders, the interest is very different. There is a focus on maximizing the returns from all migration, all migration, regular or irregular. And steps are routinely taken to engage the diaspora communities to access collective remittances, float diaspora bonds, invest, encourage them to invest back home. Knowledge and skills transfers. These are the areas that keep African leaders awake at night and not the issue of receiving people who have been checked out by the EU.

[00:20:26.16] 

So the major mismatch I see here is the fact that the African leaders tend to see migration through a development lens whilst their EU counterparts see migration through a security lens. And that's where the mismatches and then the tension has emerged over time and that needs to be bridged. The gap between the two will need to be bridged.

[00:20:47.09] 

And I think on this I have a follow up question on the African perspective because I think we often talk about Africa as, as a bloc, but you've mentioned Niger, Ghana. It also sounds like different African country may have different interest in their negotiation, in how they are approaching Europe. On this, you know, in West Africa do you see ECOWAS countries are acting as a bloc when negotiating with the EU? Or on the contrary, they're also divided among themselves in terms of priorities and engagement.

[00:21:20.12] 

Right. So it's a bit of both. So on the one hand, the EU, when it suits the bloc, negotiates with ECOWAS as a counterpart bloc, but then goes ahead to strike deals with Individual West African countries, like the case of Niger that we mentioned. And to be honest, the different countries have different leverage when it comes to their negotiation stance with the EU. So whereas you will see countries like Senegal, countries like Nigeria, countries like Ghana being able to push back and then to negotiate more favorable terms, the impoverished or the poorer West African countries are not able to do that because they just simply cannot afford to walk away from the inducement of payouts from the EU. So that is where the issue is. It's quite heterogeneous. We are not expecting that as a block. Absolutely. All the countries are behaving in exactly the same way and they have the same clout. So there are differences from country to country. My personal preference would have been a negotiation between the two blocs. ECOWAS being represented, the 15 countries being represented by one voice, and then the EU. That would have been probably a conversation between two equals the word.

[00:22:35.13] 

You pick a tiny country like Niger, which is very poor and desperate, and then you negotiate a deal. It is not fair. It's not one that Niger can insist on his rights and his preferences.

[00:22:48.16] 

And so we've talked about this imbalance in power in also level of development. So what advice would you give maybe to both side to better understand each other? I think now the picture is pretty clear, but also to develop partnership that on the one end are going to be more balanced, but are also going to be more sustainable. Because what we're seeing over and over is this partnership being rich and then something is going to change in one of the partner side and we're just back to emergency situation with migrants being the victim of this situation.

[00:23:27.21] 

Right? So there's the need for two things. There's the need for honesty and respect. Honesty about the policy priorities on both sides, and then respect, in a way, relations between the two sides are conducted because unfortunately, there is the tendency for the EU to adopt a condescending attitude when it comes to its dealing with Africa. On the other hand, there is a lot of suspicion on the part of African leaders who constantly doubt the true intentions of the EU partners. Now, this is partly attributable to the legacy of colonialism, unfortunately. I know some people will simply wish or want to pretend that this historical fact never happened, but it is difficult to trust someone who has ever picked your pockets. Right? So African countries, in their insistence on doing the right thing and doubting, I will also say, should be honest and then refuse to accept payments from the EU if they genuinely know that they are not intending to execute agreements that they've entered into with the EU. So I would say honesty and then respect on both sides is what is going to bring the two parties closer to a level where it will be balanced and then sustainable in terms of negotiations around migration issues.

[00:24:55.03] 

Thanks. And precisely on that. And to conclude on a note, that's a bit forward looking. You know, according to you, if we achieve that, if we achieve honesty and respect, what does the ideal migration cooperation between, between the two continents look like? Is it more legal pathways? Is it fewer people who risk their life trying to cross the Mediterranean? How, you know, what's, what's the ideal situation that we should aim towards?

[00:25:22.23] 

Right. So I think the ideal situation will be for Europe to come clean about the fact that it is an aging continent and that it desperately needs the youthful population of Africa to support the pension schemes and take care of the agent. That's one thing. Secondly, there is the need for the creation of legal pathways to migration with dignity so that people migrate because they choose to, not because they are compelled to. And they are not involuntarily immobile, as in they are not compelled to stay when they actually want to go. Thirdly, I think the issue of secular migration that allows migrant workers to come and go without being made to feel like they are criminals is one way that we can also look forward to a very positive cooperation between the two continents. Then the final thing that I would say is Africa's willingness to manage an orderly emigration of her citizens and then have the readiness to receive back those who choose to migrate irregularly while supporting victims of forced migration and trafficking. Now this is premised on more opportunities or legal pathways being created by Europe for labor migrants from Africa to migrate to Europe regularly.

[00:26:48.10] 

If that is the case, then those who choose to migrate irregularly, Africa should be prepared to accept its citizens back when they are returned. But it has to be a win-win situation for the two and not a lopsided situation that benefits one side and then humiliates the other.

[00:27:05.15] 

Thanks Leander. As you said, so much of it is about honesty and respect and building trust between two parties that I think have not trusted each other for some. Thank you so much for joining the podcast and all your precious insight on the situation in West Africa and also what could be done in terms of better managing migration within the continent, within the region, and with regard to Europe. To all, thank you for tuning in to another episode of World of Migration. If you enjoyed this conversation, please check out other episodes. You can find World of Migration wherever you get your podcast. And while you're there, please leave us a review. You can also find all the episodes for this and the other MPI podcasts at MPI website migrationpolicy.org/podcast and this episode was produced by Yoseph Hamid and made possible with help from Lisa Dixon and editorial input from Michelle Mittelstadt. Her theme music is called Bright Idea by Geographer. I'm Camille Le Coz. Thank you again for listening and see you next time.