Europe has received an unprecedented amount of migrants in the past two years, particularly due to the prolonged conflict in Syria but also because of armed conflicts or terrorist groups like Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in countries like Cameroon, Niger and Libya have caused people to be displaced. This thesis studies how the European Union has responded particularly to the increased amount of arriving migrants from Africa. The EU adopted in June 2016 a new Partnership Framework with third countries, also known as the Migration Compact. Before it was endorsed, the Compact received strong criticism from over 100 non-governmental organisations for possibly causing human rights violations and for representing a re-orientation of the EU’s development aid towards stopping migration. This thesis analyses what possible issues can occure when the EU is providing development aid for third countries to manage migration from Africa. As the amount of arriving migrants through the Central Mediterranean route has increased, it is necessary to analyse what direction the EU is taking in its migration management actions.
The thesis is a case study of the Migration Compact and analyses its progress in five priority countries of the Compact: Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. The analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis of 45 EU documents and six statements from various institutions related to the Compact. To demonstrate solutions for possible issues, four experts from different organisations were also interviewed.
The analysis demonstrated that so far there has been little progress made in the five countries regarding the Compact’s short-term objectives. A particular issue is the Compact making development aid conditional on how well the third countries cooperate within the short-term actions. This does not indicate of an equal partnership between the EU and the African countries. The five countries are pushed to stop migration flows by strengthening border control which creates tension between African countries. Hence, the EU is moving the pressure of managing migration from Europe to Africa. To remove the tension and provide an equally planned and implemented approach, and to make the Compact more effective, the EU should give a stronger role for the African countries, particularly for the lower levels of governance and the regional organisations in the countries.
In overall, this thesis complements the studies made of the EU migration policies by providing a view of the still little analysed Partnership Framework and hence demonstrating the direction the EU is taking in its current migration policies.