The operational committee of the EU Trust Fund for Africa has approved a raft of new programmes to aid socioeconomic development and protect vulnerable migrants.
The North Africa window of the EU Trust Fund for Africa has adopted measures worth a total of €115 million, focused on providing assistance to vulnerable migrants, encourage labour migration, develop border management and augment the benefits provided by migrants to northern African countries, in particular Libya and Morocco.
The measures approved by the EU Trust Fund for Africa include:
- A €15 million regional initiative to promote migration and mobility between the northern regions of Africa, southern African countries and EU Member States;
- A €40 million initiative to develop Morocco’s border management and combat human trafficking in the area, with particular focus on the protection of migrants’ fundamental rights and the prevention of further loss of life at sea;
- €8 million in financial support from the EU Trust Fund for Africa to the Moroccan National Strategy on Migration, which aids the process of integration for migrants living in Morocco; and
- €45 million to support management of borders and migration, including boosting the Libyan coastguard and implementing human rights training for border professionals; and a further €7 million towards humanitarian return and reintegration efforts in Libya.
Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, said: “This new assistance package is the result of our ongoing close cooperation with partner countries in North Africa and reaffirms our strong commitment to assist them with migration-related challenges. It will provide concrete technical and financial support to protect and save people, address irregular migration, foster regional mobility and develop border management systems. With this new package, we have mobilised via the EU Trust Fund for Africa a total of €582.2 million for 23 programmes over the past three years to support the people in need and respond to multiple challenges across the region working together with Member States and partner countries.”
