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DEVELOPMENT: Migration Casts Its Shadow

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Nov 18 2005 (IPS) - Development groups insist that the European Union’s development policy statement due to be adopted by member states next week must not compromise its poverty focus for migration policies.

European Union (EU) foreign ministers are due to adopt the European Consensus on Development Monday (Nov. 21), which will define the bloc’s development policy for the next five years.

Concord, which represents several European relief and development non-governmental organisations (NGOs), fears that last-minute compromises may undermine its clear poverty focus.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, came up with the new development policy statement (DPS) in July. The document aims to set development as a key element of EU external action.

The statement links development support with EU common foreign and security policy, trade policy and other related policy areas such as migration, the environment and employment. It includes a section defining common development objectives and principles covering the approaches of the EU and member states.

The Commission says the proposals reflect “changed circumstances” since the previous development strategy was launched in 2000, as a result of the stronger consensus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the security context after the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, and the increased impact of globalisation.

But development groups are concerned that the guidelines could make aid conditional on developing countries’ migration policy.

A public consultation on the future of EU development policy earlier this year showed general agreement that “development money should not be used to resolve migration issues, nor be contingent on migration policy.”

Some European countries, led by Malta, are insisting that when the statement is agreed Monday it includes a new conditionality that “countries receiving EU aid must agree to accept repatriation of migrants considered to have irregular immigration status within EU member states.”

Malta, which is a target for illegal immigrants, has been pushing for stronger asylum policies, while other member states favour more lenient measures.

Concord acknowledges that the EU needs to reorient its common migration policy, but it says that making development aid conditional on a country’s migration policy is not the answer..

“Giving money to countries for migration control purposes such as border control, readmission agreements, reception centres and camps does not contribute to solving poverty, political repression and other root causes of forced migration, so this cannot be considered as development aid,” Concord president Frans Polman told IPS.

Michael Gatt from Kopin, a Maltese development non-governmental organisation (NGO), said development policy should not be subordinated to EU foreign or migration policy.

“While acknowledging that the migration issue is a serious problem for countries like Malta, Italy and Spain, and should be tackled with its due importance, any new development policy should clearly recognise that poverty will only be eradicated by addressing its root causes, promoting gender equality, observing human rights and working through the Millennium Development Goals,” he told IPS.

“Indeed by stopping development efforts in a developing country that is perceived as not fully respecting EU rules on the fight against illegal migration, Europe would punish the poorest people, ironically encouraging migration even more,” he added.

Louis Michel, EU commissioner for development and humanitarian affairs, has also stated that “there can be no question of making development policy and aid dependent on the aims of migration policy.”

Concord warns that if member states agree to Malta’s proposal, they will be going against both public opinion and assertions by the development commissioner.

The group is also concerned that some member states are too focused on close relations with neighbouring middle-income countries, rather than giving priority to low-income countries.

“EU commitments to poverty eradication and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals mean directing attention to countries most in need of resources, and to measures addressing the multiple causes of poverty and improving the lives of poor people. One of the top criteria for allocating aid should be a country’s level of need,” Concord said in a statement.

“It would be better to have no consensus at all in the Council next week than to have a ‘European Consensus on Development’ under these conditions, which wouldn’t prioritise the needs of poor people, and put them below EU interests on migration,” added Polman.