المبادرة المشتركة لكل من الاتحاد الأوروبي والمنظمة الدولية للهجرة

لحماية المهاجرين وإعادة إدماجهم

Migration movements in the region are a long-standing phenomenon and integral part of West African societies. Many countries of the region host substantial migrant populations. Migration movements are first and foremost intraregional with almost 90-95% of all migrants moving in between countries of the region. Regional integration efforts led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ease these regional migration movements. All member states grant ECOWAS citizens the right to enter, reside as well as the establishment of economic activities in the territory of other member states. Intraregional migration is largely driven by economic migration movements towards labour intensive areas of the region. It constitutes itself around an internal mobility axis that runs east- and westwards through the Sahel region and is then further distributed north and south by secondary migration routes. 

Apart from intraregional movements, statistics show that the number of migrants from West Africa in migration flows to the EU continue to be high despite the difficult conditions of making the journey. In 2017, six countries in the region were among the seven main countries of origin of migrants arriving on Italian shores. Irregular migration along the Central Mediterranean routes is increasingly dangerous for migrants. The desert crossings through Mali, Niger, Algeria and Libya pose a substantial threat to the well-being of individual migrants. They risk falling victim to banditry groups operating in the area or face the harsh environmental conditions in the desert area. Only very limited search and rescue missions are active in this area. After the desert, crossing the Mediterranean to Italy is by far the deadliest route. In addition, over 70% of the migrants interviewed by IOM on their arrival in Italy report that they fell victims of trafficking or other exploitative practices during their migratory journey along the Central Mediterranean routes. In 2018, the number of arriving migrants in Europe has significantly dropped while at the same time the numbers of casualties along the migration routes remain to be high.

The EU-IOM Joint Initiative follows a coherent approach across the countries of the Sahel and Lake Chad region as well as cross-regionally.

This is supported by common tools and strategies developed at the regional or cross-regional level, including the development of Framework Standard Operating Procedures for assisted voluntary return and reintegration, which are adapted through consultative processes to the local contexts of each country covered under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative. This is to ensure that the contributions of all relevant stakeholders can be harnessed and that services and support provided to migrants follow similar standards in all countries.

Based on the data collected and analysed at the Flow Monitoring Points at national level, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative develops regional reports  to provide a better understanding of the migration dynamics in the Sahel and Lake Chad region and to foster an evidence-based to migration policies and programming. In the same spirit, regional evaluations of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative will be conducted.

Moreover, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative will contribute to capacity-building as well as the sharing of knowledge and best practices across the region. In particular, in order to back the efforts of ECOWAS to support the coordination on migration through the Migration Dialogue for West Africa (MIDWA) regional consultation process, the EU-IOM Joint Initiative will establish a resource centre on migration and create a group of experts from West Africa who can be mobilised for the specific needs of States while promoting the exchange of intra-regional expertise.