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Migration Partnership Framework and the Externalization of European Union’s (EU) Migration Policy in West Africa: The Case of Mali and Niger

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Regional Integration and Migration Governance in the Global South

Part of the book series: United Nations University Series on Regionalism ((UNSR,volume 20))

Abstract

This chapter examines how the European Union (EU) externalizes its migration policies in West African countries through various cooperation tools established as part of the 2016 European Agenda on Migration. The chapter analyses the generations of migration agreements between the EU and West African Countries, revealing that returns and readmission are the main focus of the European Union’s migration cooperation with West African countries. The case study on Niger and Mali examines the effect of the European Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), EU’s development policies and the securitization of migration in shaping their migration policies. This analysis unpacks the effect of EU cooperation on migration with West African countries on the agenda of free movement at the regional level, especially within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The chapter concludes that the proposed framing and linkages between migration, security, readmission, labor mobility and trade in the cooperation between EU and West African countries would undermine the regional migration agenda in ECOWAS and lead to a rise in national tendencies and restrictive border practices in the region.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The agreement refers to ‘illegal migration’ as opposed to ‘irregular migration’ used by the author in the chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    Amanda Bisong

  2. European Centre for Development Policy Management, Maastricht, Netherlands

    Amanda Bisong

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  1. Amanda Bisong
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Correspondence to Amanda Bisong .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CESSMIR, Department of Economics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, United Nations University - Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Bruges, Belgium

    Glenn Rayp

  2. CESSMIR, Department of Economics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, United Nations University - Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Bruges, Belgium

    Ilse Ruyssen

  3. United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Maastricht, The Netherlands, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Katrin Marchand

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Bisong, A. (2020). Migration Partnership Framework and the Externalization of European Union’s (EU) Migration Policy in West Africa: The Case of Mali and Niger. In: Rayp, G., Ruyssen, I., Marchand, K. (eds) Regional Integration and Migration Governance in the Global South. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43942-2_10

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