Migration Diplomacy

Dr. iur Mehari Taddele Maru

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Migration Diplomacy

1. Diplomacy as art and science of conducting negotiations between representatives of states or organizations

2. State interest: use of state power, set agenda in diplomacy as in trade, security,

3. Mismatch: for so long diplomacy insulated from local politics

4. Migration at centre of diplomacy: Function of relations and diplomacy

5. Migration: Perfect link between the local and the global

6. Supply driven agenda: Function of power

7. Negotiations: bargaining, and agreements, GMC, Free Movement Protocols, NMP

Contextualizing the African migration

• 86% of African migration is cross-border

• Cote d’Ivoire 2.4 ml 11% of the population

• South Africa 2.4ml 3.7% of the population

• Nigeria 1.2ml 0.7% of the population

• Ethiopia 1.2ml 1.2% of the population

• Djibouti and South Sudan migrants with highest percentage of the population

Migration Routes, Migration Diplomacy

Propensity to migrate

Propensity to and destinations of migration

Support to free movement

Drivers of migration

Migration Diplomacy

1. 3% improvement annual: Africans do not need a visa to travel to 25% of other African countries

2. Africans can get visas on arrival in 24% of other African countries (also 24% in 2017, and 25% in 2016).

3. Africans need visas to travel to 51% of other African countries (down from 54% in 2017, and 55% in 2016).

4. 15 countries moved upwards l in rank on the Index (12 in 2017).

AfDB 2018 Report

UNECA 2016 Africa Integration Index

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Impacts of Migration Diplomacy?

1. Routes of focus, and neglected routes of migration: There are many migration routes, but some have gained more attention than others, more agreements

2. Free movement initiatives were there for 3 decades, but gained momentum just recently

3. Free Movement Protocols: AU Protocol, IGAD, Visa on Arrivals

4. Taskforces were dead for long, not resuscitated now

5. More than 27 National Migration Policies: legislative led and not any more

6. Competitions among national entities: National Coordination Mechanisms

7. GMC— active involvement in the negotiations

Normative Anchors

• AU Constitutive ACT

• AU’s Agenda 2063

• OAU Refugee Convention

• Migration Policy Framework for Africa

• Kampala Convention

• Niamey Convention on Cross Border Cooperation etc

• the African Remittances Institute (AIR)

• Joint Labour Migration Programme (JLMP)

• Minimum Integration Plan (MIP)

• the Free Trade Agreement

Migration Diplomacy

1. Foreign policy subservient to local politics and electoral contestation, economic consideration (Jobs)

2. Bilateral migration diplomacy: CoO and CoD, CoT and CoD, BA

3. Regional migration diplomacy: regional norms

4. Multilateral migration Diplomacy: norm setting, soft to hard

5. Function of power– financial power, supplied, greased

6. Formation alliance

7. Networking, States going for

• Multilateral when possible

• Bilateral agreements when necessary

BARRIERS AND BENEFITS FROM EACH FOUR FREEDOMS

• Investors

• Property law

• Finance law

• Banking law •

• Land law

• Property law

• Nationality law

• Skill standards

• Labor Laws

• Labour policy

• Data Collection

• Progressive Abolishment of Visa

• Soft borders

• Begin by trust building

MOVEMENT EMPLOYMENT

BUSINESS RESIDENCE

KEY FINDINGS

• Political Barriers (including historical factors, sovereignty, security threats, trust deficit and mindset of government officials)

• Policy Barriers (exiting policies, legislations, regulations and working procedures that inhibit free movement);

• Socio-Economic and Cultural Barriers (as manifested in risks associated to dilution of culture and religion, demographic changes, pressure on economic benefits and competition for jobs);

• Physical Barriers (mainly poor infrastructure in services including immigration, transportation, hospitality);

• Administrative and Bureaucratic Barriers (operational hurdles and non-policy and legislative hurdles and procedures manifesting in the form of cumbersome procedural requirements, corruption, discretionary powers); and

• Capability Barriers (mainly reflective low allocation of finance, human resource and skill sets required)

From Colonial Border to Integrative Border

Market in Okavu, north-

western Uganda

PATIENCE ATUHAIRE

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38341149

KEY POINTS

1. Migration defined by AU and IGAD

2. Causes and consequences of migration

3. Migration Governance: four pillared architecture

4. Migration Diplomacy: linking/responding to both local and global

5. Migration at centre of diplomacy: Function of relations

6. Foreign policy and local socio-political economy

7. Supply driven agenda: Function of power

8. State interest, use of state power, agenda in diplomacy

9. Focus from diffusion to implementation

10. On Implementation: Building four capabilities at national level and local level On MSs:

Migration Conceptualized and Twin Purposes

MIGRATION

Displacement

Forced

IDPs

Internal

Refugees

External

Mobility

Voluntary

Legal-Good

Integrative

Irregular-Bad

4Ps

Increasing international MobilityDramatic rise in localized displacement

The push and pull factors conceptual framework

Migration as Mobility or Displacement

Towards Good Mobility

Displacement

Forced, Compelled

Push Factors

Mobility

Voluntary

Pull Factors

Ultimate Aim of the Migration Governance by AU and RECs

Voluntary

Not forced—consent

Travel for Trade, Education, Tourism, Employment

Legal

Compliance with CoO, CoT, or CoD

Documentation Refugee/visa

Causes of Internal Displacement

• Accidents: chemical and nuclear

• Dam

• Infrastructure

• extractive industries

• Urban Renewal

• Climate Change, Flood, quakes, volcanoes, fire

• Conflicts

• Discrimination

• Eviction

• Evacuation

• Relocation

• Harmful Practices

CID NDID

MDIDDID

AU/IGAD Migration Governance Architecture

NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORK

FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK

IGAD Migration Governance

• Twin Purposes of IGAD Migration Governance:

• Facilitation of Mobility

• Addressing Irregular and Forced Migration

• The Delicate Balance: between Facilitation of Mobility and Addressing Irregular and Forced Migration

• Four Pillars IGAD Migration Governance:

• Pillar 1: Clear Migration Governance Policies, Legislations and Procedures (Normative Framework)

• Pillar 2: Capable and Well-Resourced Migration Governance Institutions (Institutional Framework)

• Pillar 3: Effective and Efficient Coordination, Cooperation and Collaboration among Migration Governance Institutions (Collaboration) including the principle of Subsidiarity and Community Engagement (Subsidiarity) at lower level, and also strong regional and international cooperation (Cooperation); and

• Pillar 4: Sustainable Sources of Funding and Resources Mobilisation (Resources-Finance and Human Resources).

Phases:

1. Norm Setting,

2. Norm Diffusion,

3. Norm Implementation

4. Reporting and follow-up mechanism

Core Anchors

a. Respect for human rights of migrants

b. Collaboration among actors, including migrants, countries of origin, transit and destination

c. Coordination among all authorities with mandate related to migration as well as stakeholders

AU/IGAD Migration Governance Phases

Contextualizing the region

• 60,000 peace keeping troops and few thousand foreign troops

• Region of secessions: Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia

• Stateless in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan

• Increases Internal Displacement while External Displacement (Refugees)

• More than 10 million IDPs and Refugees

• 5 ml IDPs

• host more than 4 million refugees 12 percent global total

• produces 3 million refugees 13 percent

• Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea largest producers

• Uganda and Ethiopia largest hosts