Aid conditionality on migration control is immoral

On 25 March 2021, the European Parliament votes on the “Report for a new Africa-EU Strategy”, which will contribute to the revised Africa-EU Strategy to be adopted at the upcoming AU-EU Summit. Amidst resurgent debates about migration conditionalities towards Africa and a possible inclusion of such provisions in the report, Dr Awil Mohamoud, Director of the African Diaspora Policy Centre in The Hague, argues that imposing migration conditionalities fundamentally contradicts the EU’s objective of a deepened partnership with Africa.

Development cooperation should not be used as a carrot-and-stick instrument for managing migration. Initially, development aid was instituted to reduce poverty, tackle inequality and address social and economic underdevelopment in the Global South. It was not at all designed to advance a restricted migration management policy. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence indicating that the tendency of people to migrate cannot be reduced by development cooperation. It is simply not the right instrument.