Perpetuating Crises at the Source?: (Inter)Regionalism and Normative Incoherence for Sustainable Migration in Africa

ABSTRACT

In response to the 2015–2016 migration crisis, the European Union established the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa that aimed ‘to address the root causes of instability, forced displacement and irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management.’ This article questions the logic of this approach to migration management by asking whether African regions can ‘better manage migration.’ The article examines the normative bases of migration policies amongst the African Union (AU) and six regional economic communities (RECs), as well as the normative bases of the development strategies pursued by the AU and these RECs. The article proposes normative policy coherence for development as an approach to better understand the relationships between regional integration, sustainable development and migration management in Africa.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.