THAMM Nicolle Disc Paper Final Draft 02072021 Cleared.docx

KEY POLICY TRADEOFFS

Analyses of the pandemic situation at regional and transnational levels have emphasised the lack of a concerted and multilateral approach. Labour migration is already a key priority for the African Union Commission (AUC) and its Member States on the African continent, as reflected in the Revised Migration Policy Framework for Africa (MPFA) and its Plan of Action (2018-30), and the Joint Labour Migration Governance Program (JLMP). 95 At a time when many uncertainties remain about the health situation - globally and nationally - it is undoubtedly time to respond to current emergencies while reforming for the longer term. Failure to do so could well affect the political reading of migration between the two shores of the Mediterranean. In the words of Schöfberger and Rango (2020), COVID-19 and migration require transnational approaches, however, ‘diversified impacts of the pandemic on national societies and economies may lead to wider divergence inmigration related priorities for States within regions, and further hinder the identification of shared approaches on migration that are currently being discussed at the level of the African Union, ECOWAS, Arab Maghreb Union and European Union. In this way, it may reinforce current trends towards tightening border controls.’ 96 In this regard, it seems that the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on a timely alternative narrative and policy objective, with a shift from a politicized ‘migration management’ to a more collaborative socio-economic paradigm focusing on protection, skills, jobs, and legal pathways. As highlighted by Kumar et al. (2021), the questions are: ‘How do we sustain these reforms beyond the pandemic? How do we go beyond the usual emergency/crisis narrative that so often taints migration debates and leaves us with little space for a balanced, rational, and politically viable approach to reform?’ 97 This last section presents perspectives to feed the debates at the THAMM conference and future dialogues between actors on both sides of the Mediterranean on the issue of 95 The latter was developed by the AUC in close collaboration with the ILO, IOM, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and adopted by African Union member states in January 2015. 96 Fargues, P., Rango, M., Borgnas, E. and Schöfgerger, I. editors (2020) Migration in West and North Africa and across the Mediterranean : trends, risks, development and governance, IOM Geneva.

mobility and labour migration.

Existing labour migration frameworks: questioning the strategy and narratives

What do we learn from current confirmed COVID-19 related labour migration policy decisions in Europe and North African countries? What role will skills-based migration play in future labour mobility schemes (both North South and South South) in view of the EU Migration Pact? Trade-off #1: From politicised to political dialogues The current solutions of restricting movement of Africans, securitisation of migration and conditionality-based migration cooperation are costly to both governments and migrants and have mixed results (COE-EDP 2020). Moving forward, migration policies and cooperation between European and North African countries should be designed in a comprehensive and consultative way to ensure that states, migrants and other relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, contribute to finding and developing better mobility outcomes. (O’Brien and Eger 2020). In this respect, what legal, administrative and formal modalities could facilitate the mobility and integration of North African migrant workers in the EU? How can social partners and stakeholders (including the RSMMS network, as well as civil society organisations) be better involved in this dialogue? The challenges of North Africa's development require a singular effort to train and maintain its human resources on its soil – in particular its most highly skilled workers. Pre-COVID-19 increasing brain drain suggests that ‘it will take more than an incentive to patriotism to bring back the executives settled abroad or to dissuade those tempted by an extraterritorial professional adventure’. 98 Perhaps it would be more judicious for EU countries to Trade-off #2: Assessing the reality of brain drain phenomena 97 Kumar, C., Oommen, E., Fragapane, F. and Foresti, M. (2021) Beyond gratitude: Lessons learned from migrants’ contribution to the Covid-19 response, ODI, London. 98 Maingari, D. (2011). Exode des cerveaux en Afrique : réalités et déconstruction du discours sur un phénomène social. Éducation et sociétés, 2(2), 131-147.

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