The African Union (AU) last month organised a memorial service dedicated to the African migrants who have died this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, explains what the AU is doing to prevent disasters such as these from happening.
The recent death of thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea came as a big shock to many people across Africa. Will it be discussed during next week's AU summit in Johannesburg?
Personally and from the point of view of my department, we’re really trying to make sure that we start talking about this. I don’t mean just bilaterally or among member states, but we must create as many opportunities as possible to sit down and make decisions about the issue of migration.
The May 27 event in Addis Ababa [to commemorate those who died crossing the Mediterranean] took the form of a memorial service, but our partners from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Union (EU), as well as a number of the origin and transit countries, were all there to make statements. This is the kind of dialogue that I would like to promote.
Q: Compared to the very heated debate over this in Europe, we don’t hear the voice of African countries or the AU Commission (AUC) when things like this happen.
We must create as many opportunities as possible to really sit down and make decisions about the issue of migration
It is true that the AU has not talked a lot publicly about these problems, but in fact we have always been proactive on this issue. I would like to emphasise that we do have a lot of programmes that we are working on, together with the EU. We really do appreciate what they are doing after the people cross the Mediterranean.
But something that we have also been working very hard on is to address the root causes of the problem. Somehow, we have to make the member states of the AU stable and friendly to the young people who are trekking out to the Mediterranean, so they don’t feel they have to go. That’s going to be over the longer term, but we still have medium-term plans.
Q: What are your concrete initiatives?
Following the Lampedusa tragedy [when 300 migrants died in a shipwreck off the Italian coast in 2013], the AUC has tripled its efforts in engaging member states and partners to address the issues of irregular migration, human trafficking and smuggling of migrants. To this end, we have initiated the AU Horn of Africa Initiative, launched at a regional ministerial meeting in Khartoum involving Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan in October 2014. Its main objective is to foster improved cooperation in addressing the challenges of human trafficking and smuggling within and from the Horn of Africa. It requires urgent regional and global action.
The solutions must be comprehensive, durable and holistic and must be situated within the context of poverty eradication and sustainable development.
Q: The AU has also focused on the free movement of people within its borders. How can that help to tackle disasters such as these?
In January 2015, the AU Assembly adopted the Joint Labour Migration Program (JLMP). This was developed jointly by the AUC, the IOM, the ILO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). With more than half of African migrants seeking decent opportunities, it is aimed at facilitating the free movement of persons within Africa. This has the potential to reduce the pressure and consequently the number of African migrants likely to use irregular and dangerous migration channels. It is also expected to deepen continental integration and economic cooperation.
The president of Rwanda is championing this issue and chaired a meeting on the free movement of people in East Africa that took place in Kigali in March 2015 and involved all the regional economic communities.
If you establish free movement, depending on their needs people may find an alternative, a place to go instead of trying to cross the Mediterranean illegally. The meeting provided a forum for balanced and comprehensive discussions on the potential role of intra-regional migration and mobility within Africa as powerful drivers of sustainable economic and social development. We’re working very hard on this medium-term solution.
If you asked me to migrate to Europe, I would have said no, because my country was doing well
Q: Would you say that the constant migration to Europe is indicative of a failure by African countries themselves, more than 50 years after the creation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963?
In the 1970s, I was growing up in Sierra Leone and if you asked me to migrate to Europe, I would have said no, because my country was doing well, I was very comfortable. But the problems are getting worse now: governance and poverty problems, peace and security issues. People move to live better lives outside Africa. We’re talking about Africa on the rise and it is true. The long-term solution is that we must make sure that we create job opportunities.
Q: Is it the role of the AU to track those responsible for human trafficking and smuggling of migrants? Does it have enough resources to do so?
It is not so much a question of resources, although that is part of it. I believe that to tackle the issue of human traffickers and smuggling, all the countries involved on the major routes need to sit together and share ideas, see what they can do on those borders. A border separates two countries, so you can’t address the issue of a border only from one side.
I’m sure the human traffickers start right from the point of origin, operate in the transit areas, and are then present at the end. If there is nobody to receive these migrants, they will not go. So, this explains what we’re doing with the Horn of Africa initiative. We said, ‘Let’s talk at a high level and see what we can do.’
Q: But technically, how would you, for example, judge those responsible for these transnational crimes?
That is one of the issues still outstanding. Europe is also trying to develop measures whereby it could destroy traffickers’ boats. That’s good, but is this initiative backed by the UN, to do it legally? We do not yet have the institutions and regulations in place. Besides, if you take the current problem in the Mediterranean, it is Libya that is the transit point, where most of the migrants are departing from. But which government in Libya are you engaging at the moment to see if you can institute some kind of legal framework? Of course, our Peace and Security Department [at the AU] is working very hard to bring the various factions in Libya together, but a lot still needs to be done.
Q: What is your reaction to the recent events in South Africa and the violence linked to xenophobia in that country, especially since it is hosting the upcoming AU summit?
Xenophobia is a problem that everybody condemns. I said at the time [when the violence broke out in April 2015] that this is the kind of thing the government of South Africa can handle, but they should also be doing more to fight xenophobia. I have just returned from South Africa, and I can say they are doing their best.