The EU-Africa summit held recently in Malta primarily focused on security issues and the repatriation of migrants rather than cooperation.
A few days before the summit, disagreements began to surface between the EU and the African Union (AU) regarding the issues of repatriation and readmissions.
While the AU asserts that migration is a tool for development and poverty reduction, the EU’s strategy on this phenomenon primarily aims to secure its borders with Africa.
The arrival of a large number of refugees from the Middle East, particularly Syria, has turned African migrants into economic migrants in the public debate.
And it is precisely on this point that the fundamental disagreement between the African position on migrants and that of the EU lies: for the AU, poverty and natural disasters caused by climate change force young Africans to migrate to Europe in search of better opportunities; emigration from Africa has both a positive impact on the economies of African countries due to remittances sent by migrants and a negative impact on societies due to brain drain.
For the AU, a sustainable solution, therefore, does not lie in the repatriation of young African migrants who have been forcibly displaced, but in supporting African countries in their fight against the root causes of the phenomena that lead to emigration.
After signing a long-negotiated plan with African countries for better management of migration issues, European leaders announced the launch of an aid fund for Africa worth 1.8 billion euros.
The Twenty-eight will now attempt to reach an agreement on aid to Turkey to limit the number of asylum seekers.
While the plan proposed to African countries clearly raises some skepticism regarding its effectiveness and the real degree of commitment from both parties (Europeans hesitate over its financing, Africans show little enthusiasm for the readmission policy demanded of them), the agreement to be concluded with Ankara also raises doubts.
