In view of the current migration crisis, the European Union (EU) has called a summit on migration in Valletta, Malta from 11-12 November 2015. African representatives have been invited to participate in this meeting. Ahead of the summit, both the EU and the African Union (AU) have put forward separate position papers reflecting their priorities and approaches in addressing migration and its positive and negative consequences. Whatever decisions are taken in Valletta, from an African perspective, European migration policy is not more of an imperative than African migration. In fact, migration governance in Africa remains the most critical challenge and requires thorough deliberations and reform. This brief piece therefore attempts, first of all, to explain the current crisis related to migration in Africa. Second, it identifies a number of gaps in African migration governance and in the implementation of existing policies. And finally, it describes how the Valletta Summit can transform the migration crisis into an opportunity and makes recommendations as to how the Valletta Summit can contribute to effective migration governance and boost the Africa-EU Partnership’s trade and development agenda.
Read more at The Valletta Dilemma. Why migration governance in Africa should take centre stage