Europe seeks to put illegal migrants rooted in Africa
A member of Tunisia's national guard stops a fishing boat in the sea bordering Tunisia and Libya as they check vessels for illegal migrants trying to reach Europe on May 5, 2015, off the coast of Tunisia's southeast port of Zarzis.
What you need to know:
- This week, the German government declared extension of its border controls to all nine of its frontiers, as it moves to crackdown on irregular migration and crime following recent extremist attacks.
- This follows a deadly knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker in Soligen, in which three people were killed, and more similar attacks in recently.
European countries are still trying to get as many African countries to take on illegal immigrants arriving at their shores to seek better life, even as they tighten border controls.
Over the recent weeks, the UK failed to push through its asylum policy deal with Rwanda after London changed administrations. But Germany, Spain and Italy, three of the other countries that have been receiving thousands of illegal visitors every year have tried to get partners in Africa to tame the flow, mostly from the source.
This week, the German government declared extension of its border controls to all nine of its frontiers, as it moves to crackdown on irregular migration and crime following recent extremist attacks.
This follows a deadly knife attack by a Syrian asylum seeker in Soligen, in which three people were killed, and more similar attacks recently.
The border closures which will last six months, and other measures, will prove to be a litmus test to the EU unity, as most of Germanys neighbours and members of the European Union. Germany itself belongs to the Schengen area, which normally blankets the area with external borders only while allowing visitors to travel freely between countries of the zone.
Berlin, however, is still eyeing a deal with Rwanda, hopefully, to take from where the UK failed after meeting various legal challenges to the deal.
While speaking on a recent podcast, Joachim Stamp, Germany’s Special Representative for Migration Agreements, said the European Union could utilise the existing asylum facilities in Rwanda.
“There is no plan of the German government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda,” he clarified but said Germany will process asylum applications to a third country under the international humanitarian law, and with support from the UN.
“We currently have no country that has come forward, with the exception of Rwanda.” Germany’s proposal would specifically target refugees and migrants crossing the EU’s eastern borders, which he estimated at be around 10,000 people annually.
This follows a meeting in July between President Paul Kagame and Jens Spahn, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and a prominent German official, where a possible asylum deal between the two countries was discussed.
The meeting held in Kigali, right after the collapse of the UK-Rwanda asylum deal, centered on discussions about migration management and bilateral cooperation between the two countries, as Germany sought to horn its own asylum seekers deal with Kigali.
Spahn commended Rwanda’s proactive stance on migration issues and expressed Germany’s support for exploring new strategies. Rwanda itself has said it was keen to ensure humane relocations even though activists in the UK sued their government accusing it of maltreating migrants.
“We want to bring every migrant who reaches the EU irregularly to a safe third country. Many will not even set off if it us clear that it will lead to a safe third country outside EU within 48 hours” Spahn said then.
But Germany isn’t the only European country desperate to keep away irregular migrants. Italy has struggled too and earlier in January gathered African leaders for a Summit to discuss ways of dissuading mass illegal migrants from taking risky boat journeys across the Mediterranean.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), a total of 260,662 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Northern Africa to Europe since the beginning of 2023. Italy said it costs $1.8 billion to host them. Italy's Interior Ministry said it got 50 percent more illegal immigrants in 2023 than in 2022.
This year, Italy gave €5.5 billion ($6 billion), after the ‘Italia-Africa’ summit it called ‘a bridge for common growth’.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Prime Minister said then that the money would be used for measures “to ensure that the young generations have a right that has so far been denied them, because here in Europe we have often talked about the right to emigrate, but we have barely ever spoken about how to guarantee the right not to be forced to emigrate.”
“Illegal mass immigration will never be stopped, human traffickers will never be defeated, unless the root causes that drive people to leave their homes are addressed.”
The money was to go into projects that could help generate income and make source countries liveable. But critics argued the money wasn’t free and African countries already burdened with loans would shy away.
In late August, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez embarked on a three-nation West African tour for what was described as a mission to reinforce bilateral relations. His eyes were on the illegal migrants still.
According to a post on the official X account of The Gambian presidency, the two governments signed two ‘significant’ memoranda of understanding geared towards facilitating legal migration and ensuring stability and security.
“Spain…wants to give a new impetus to our relationship with Africa,” the Spanish leader said after meeting with President Adama Barrow of the Gambia.
A fiber boat with migrants arriving at the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain on February 8, 2024. PHOTO | REUTERS
Illegal migration, known in this part of Africa as Backway, is a very popular phenomenon in Gambia. Many families in this nation of just above two million people depend on relatives abroad for their livelihoods, making migration a major political issue. It doesn’t matter how they went there.
Yet many families too have also lost loved ones from boat disasters at sea. The vessels they travel on, which are usually made for fishing purposes, are highly susceptible to the effects of strong winds and Atlantic currents.
The migrants are often pushed out of their countries to flee poverty and lack of job opportunities. But others come from neighbouring Sahelian countries, especially Mali, where violence and insecurity has forcefully displaced thousands.
Sánchez also visited Mauritania and Senegal, completing a tour of countries often described as the main launching pads for migrants traveling to Europe by boats.
Mauritania is home to about 200,000 Malian refugees on its border, according to UN data.
Spain and Italy are the two popular first ports of call for the migrants. They are used as stepping stone to other parts of Europe. Germany receives mostly migrants fleeing crises in eastern Europe and the Middle East, but those who manage to arrive in Spain and Italy from Africa also flow into the wider western European region.
Because of its proximity to Africa, the Canary Island in Spain has become the most popular destination for these migrants.
Data issued by Spain’s Interior Ministry show that over 22,300 people landed on the Island between January and mid-August this year, 126 percent more than the same period last year.
Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), shows that year after year, the number of migrants arriving irregularly in the Island has increased.
Media reports indicate that the Spanish government is under pressure from its citizens to deal with illegal migration, which they blame for rising crime and other ills.
But while in Mauritania, his first stop, Prime Minister Sánchez sought to dismiss this narrative.
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“Despite the rhetoric that is growing in Europe, migration is not a problem,” he said. “It is a need that involves certain problems, and for this we must push formulas that allow us to manage the phenomenon of migration in a humane, safe and orderly way, to benefit our respective societies.”
According to Sanchez, this formula, ‘Circular Migration,’ entails recruitment of youths to travel and work in Spanish farms on seasonal basis.
Reports indicate that the scheme is already in existence in Senegal, where about 100 young people benefit every year.
But there is hardly anyone who believes this will work in Gambia.
Yahya Sonko, a Germany-based Gambian migration activist, said the deal is vague.
“Citizens have a right to know the details of any agreement that could significantly impact their lives and livelihoods,” he told the Gambian daily, The Standard, urging the country’s National Assembly to ensure that the deal does not proceed without full disclosure of its content.
In 2017, the then new government of President Barrow signed an agreement with the European Union, as part of an initiative called Youth Empowerment Project (YEP). The €13 million project was presented as solution to the root causes of irregular migration – unemployment. Its goal was to increase job opportunities and income prospects for the youth. But scores of undocumented Gambians were deported to the country after that.
Early this year, the EU signed a 210 million euro deal with Mauritania to stop smugglers from launching boats on its shores to Spain.
The latest report released in June by the group representing the interest of migrant workers, Ca-minando Fronteras or Walking Borders, revealed that over 5,000 migrants died at sea in the first five months of 2024 trying to reach the Canary Islands, representing 95 percent of death at sea and making it the deadliest route between Africa and Spain.
The report shows that Mauritania, in fact, overtook Senegal as the main departure point, representing 3,600 of the deaths between January and April.
