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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Nov 2015 : 12:35:14
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Stemming the migration crisis needs more than just cash donation
The Point Editorial: Thursday, November 12, 2015
African and European leaders are currently meeting in Malta to find a solution to the illegal migration crisis presently taking place across the Mediterranean.
In their 2-day summit, a whopping €1.8 billion will be allocated to be given to governments of the most affected African countries, to utilize in activities and development initiatives that would help in stemming the current tide of illegal migration to Europe, which has taken the lives of more than 500,000 Africans, especially youths.
While this gesture from Europe is appreciated, it is essential to note that no amount of money would really put a stop to the current wave of illegal migration taking place from Africa to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.
This is because the problems and challenges endemic to the continent would hardly be solved by a mere cash donation.
Africa is plagued with bad governance, poverty, disease, hunger, destitution, war, corruption and leadership crisis, which make it almost impossible for a cash donation to do the work.
In the first place, bad governance, corruption and leadership crisis will not provide good housing and accommodation for the €1.8 billion from Europe, as much of the funds will be diverted into the accounts of corrupt African leaders and government officials.
What Africa really needs is not this type of charities;the continent and her people need development-oriented leaders, good governance,sound and prosperous economic plans, lucrative investments in the productive sectors and creating manufacturing firms that will produce goods for local consumption and export, thereby creating massive job opportunitiesfor the people, especially the youths.
How do African leaders and people transform or revolutionize their economies to achieve meaningful development for the continent, is what we should be thinking of and discussing, so as to be able to accomplish a better economic condition that would help us to stem the repercussions of bad governance such as illegal migration.
Fair trade and pricing of Africa’s resources and produce are some of the issues at stake.
African countries should be assisted to be on a platform that would make them capable of manufacturing and exporting more than they are importing, since export-led growth was the centerpiece of the industrial policy that enriched Europe, the US and much of Asia and left millions of people in those continents far better off and developed.
This is the path that would take Africa forward, and let us stem the abhorrent trend of illegal migration to Europe from Africa. Not really some mere cash donation!
“ Help Africa liberate itself from bad governance and poverty.”
The Point
Source: http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/stemming-the-migration-crisis-needs-more-than-just-cash-donation
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Momodou
Denmark
11712 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2015 : 14:31:51
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Europe fund to tackle African migration ‘not enough’ says Macky Sall
The Point: Friday, November 13, 2015
European fund to tackle African migration is not sufficient, several African leaders have said after crisis talks with their European counterparts.
It was one of several measures European and African leaders agreed to reduce the flow of people into Europe.
The leaders said their aim was to “address the root causes of migration”.
The Europe-Africa meeting was planned after around 800 migrants died when their boat sank off Libya in April.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall, who currently heads the West African regional group Ecowas, told journalists on the sidelines of the summit that the money pledged was “not enough for the whole of Africa”.
Later, at the closing press conference, he said he was pleased with the trust fund, but said he would like to see it “more generously financed”.
Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou echoed the Senegalese president’s sentiments and added that “reform of global governance” was also needed, to make world trade fairer, Reuters news agency reports.
While Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashidali Sharmatke told the BBC: “What Africa needs today is not charity, but investment.”
EU Council President Donald Tusk said the summit had agreed “a long list of very concrete actions to be implemented by the end of 2016”.
These include setting up a joint European and African team in Niger to tackle people smuggling and increasing the number of visas available to students and researchers.
“We are under no illusions that we can improve the situation overnight but we are committed to giving people alternatives to risking their lives,” Mr Tusk said.
The European trust fund is supposed to “foster stability... and to contribute to better migration management”, according to a European Union statement.
It is also aimed at “promoting economic... opportunities, security and development” in the 23 African countries named which, along with Senegal, include Nigeria, Eritrea and Libya.
The money will be spent on:
Economic programmes to create jobs
Supporting services like health and education
Improving migration management “including containing and preventing irregular migration”
Supporting conflict prevention
Media reaction to the plans:
“Financial aid to accept deportation of thousands” declares Algerian daily El-Khabar, before quoting human rights groups warning that Europe was “forcing African countries to play the role of policeman”.
However, Germany’s tabloid Bild asks: “Why is Chancellor Merkel negotiating with Africa’s despots?” in its account of the “tricky Valletta summit”.
Similarly, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung says the EU’s offer of money for fewer refugees from Africa was making critics “accuse the EU of showing its real values by cooperating with unjust regimes”.
In neighbouring France, Le Figaro urges President Francois Hollande to “have the courage” to drastically cut all kinds of aid for migrants. “In the short term, what is he waiting for to close the Calais ‘jungle’... and change the policy against clandestine immigration?”
In Russia, state-controlled Channel One TV describes the summit as “another attempt by Europe to stop the chaos”, noting that “whilst Europe and Africa are bargaining with each other, thousands are embarking on fatal trips in the Mediterranean”.
The $1.9bn fund is in addition to the $20bn the EU already spends on development assistance in Africa every year, Mr Tusk said.
The fund is also supposed to be boosted by contributions by individual member states, but only a small amount had been pledged.
The UN says some 150,000 people from African countries such as Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia have made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.
But this has been dwarfed by the arrival of some 650,000 people - mostly Syrians - via Turkey and Greece.
There have been more than 3,000 deaths as people try to make the crossing.
BBC world affairs reporter Richard Galpin says the crisis has evolved so quickly this year that European leaders have been struggling to keep up and formulate any coherent policies.
Picture: President Macky Sall is current chair of ECOWAS
Source: The Point
Related Topic: BBC Online: Europe fund to tackle African migration 'not enough' |
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