|
IP/08/1463
Brussels ,6 October 2008
The European Commission and Mali join forces
to improve the management of migration
The
Migration Information and Management Centre (CIGEM) was inaugurated today in
Bamako, Mali, in the presence of Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for
Development and Humanitarian Aid, Amadou Toumani Touré, the President of
the Republic of Mali, and Brice Hortefeux, the French Minister for Immigration,
Integration, National Identity and Cooperative Development. The centre, which is
financed by the EU as part of its development cooperation with Mali, is a pilot
project that is to be copied in other West African countries.
The CIGEM is the result of cooperation between the Government of Mali and the
European Commission for the purpose of providing a response to the migration
phenomenon. It aims to help Mali come up with a migration policy that addresses
the concerns of potential migrants, returning migrants and Malians residing
abroad. Mali and the European Commission are working together through this
project to realise Africa-EU partnership commitments on migration, mobility and
employment adopted at the EU-Africa Summit of December 2007.
Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid,
has played a very active role in setting up the centre. "Instead of
demonising the migration phenomenon, it should be supported, structured and
managed optimally as a positive human element for both Africa and Europe. The
centre paves the way for managing migration flows more effectively and making
greater use of the development opportunities provided by migration," he said
during the inauguration of the centre.
The project is a ‘pilot’ in that it is the first time the
European Union has offered support to a country in sub-Saharan Africa for
tackling and preventing the problems caused by legal and illegal migration in
the shape of an initiative addressing the different aspects of the migration
phenomenon. It is in the spirit of the EU-Africa Partnership on
Migration, Mobility and Employment approved in Lisbon (December 2007) and
follows on from the conferences on migration and development in Rabat
(July 2006) and Tripoli (November 2006) and from the political
dialogue under Article 13 of the Cotonou Agreement between Mali and the EU.
The establishment of the centre is financed under the 9th European
Development Fund (€10 million). The aim is that the centre will become a
fully fledged Malian institution (independent of Community funding) within the
Ministry of Malians Abroad and African Integration.
Twenty-five people will be employed in the centre to provide reception,
welcome, information, guidance and support facilities for potential and
returning migrants (also with regard to employment and training opportunities in
Mali and abroad). They will also carry out research into migration and promote
the active role played by Malians living abroad in the development of Mali.
CIGEM website: www.cigem.org
CIGEM press pack:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/acp/country-cooperation/mali/documents/cigem_press_pack_en.pdf
|
|
