Africa Matters: Europe’s migration policies

It’s voting season in France and the United Kingdom, where migration policies and the economy are dominating voter and political campaign agendas. Mainstream parties across Europe face increasing pressure from voters to implement stricter immigration laws, responding to growing support for far-right politicians. But why should these issues matter to Africans?

In Kenya, citizens are mourning the deaths of dozens of young protesters killed during weeks of anti-tax demonstrations that pressured President William Ruto to withdraw a controversial finance bill. Despite this, calls for his resignation persist, with demands for greater accountability.

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welcome everyone I’m Grace Kura kja and this is Africa matters now it’s voting season in France and in the United Kingdom and migration policies as well as the economy have taken Center Stage for both voters and in political campaigns so why should all this matter to Africans that’s what we’ll be asking so stay tuned to find [Music] out it’s not secret that Europe has an aging population and failing birth rates on the other hand the African continent has largely young people looking for well-paying jobs and contrary to popular belief studies show more Africans migrate within the continent instead of heading to Europe that’s where mainstream parties are under pressure to adopt tougher immigration laws in response to AAR in support for fire right forces and voters advocating for anti-immigrant policies so what are foreign workers regardless of their nationalities facing when they get there French president Emanuel macron recently tightened migration laws but fire rights Jordan badela promises to drastically reduce legal and illegal immigration and Deport foreign criminals if his party wins the Parliamentary majority in the second round prompting this reaction you have to send back all the syrians you have to send back all the Kenyans you have to send back all the people is Marine Leen going to pick up the rubbish is Marine Leen going to come on and work on a building site with me who’s going to work how many French people work in construction I don’t categorize but this country needs foreigners save the children says about 20,000 migrants arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands between January and April which is a 190% sge compared to the same period last year that’s made it the most heavily used migration route to Europe so far this year with most of them coming from West afria afca and the African Union is calling for a united front in dealing with the issue not only is mass migration depopulating our continent of a Workforce in its golden age it’s doing so in unhappiness extreme precariousness and IND Dignity of our peoples our youth in particular the scope of our partnership around this issue will remain limited until it culminates in a new approach to the management of migratory flows in the UK the immigration policy to send undocumented Asylum Seekers to rer hongs in the bin labor Kia stama has vowed to scrap the Asylum scheme laimo from Aang Aken she’s a human rights and democracy practitioner and she joins me from campala Uganda welcome to the show Aang now why are African countries always at the Massy of European policies and not taking a proactive stand when it comes to keeping their best talent in the Continental chain I think that the challenge with the migration Cris well depending on how you define it um migration is a particularly problematic issue in the relationship between Europe and Africa and has always been [Music] um Africa looks at human Mobility as an opportunity for the continent in terms of um the panafrican dream of self-reliance and interdependence however Europe looks at human Mobility particularly of Africans as a crisis this shows the uh differentiation in terms of um how both parties look at migration Africa has developed several policies including the um migration framework uh the migration policy framework for Africa um it has a freedom of movement protocol and in fact in 2016 when images began to uh rise in many media Outlets showing Africans drowning in the Mediterranean um the response of the African Union was to ask its Secretariat to promulgate the freedom of movement protocol in line with the African economic Community treaty that sees Africa as being interdependent and self-reliant right so Aang each country is different but what would you say the continent generally wants from Europe when it comes to migration since the diaspora are a key source of revenue for most governments that is true however as you mentioned earlier it is um actually most African um actually end up migrating to other African countries and not really to Europe um and so what African countries need for the most part is for Europe not to interfere um with the migration policy Frameworks that Africa has put into place because these are to uh uh build a United States of Africa uh build our regional integration however Europe has several multi you know bilateral agreements that have heavy resources uh behind them that undermine the migratory Frameworks that Africa has put into place and these migratory Frameworks most of which are still uh operational are creating severe situations particularly in Northern Africa uh where people are and finding themselves into slavery uh finding themselves into the hands of um you know Smugglers uh uh finding themselves on on you know in rickety boats because there’s there’s a lack of legal Pathways for migration for me migration is as old as human beings themselves human beings have been migrating from time immemorial and it is a human right to be able to move freely so this protectionism that Europe um is putting money behind and pushing Africans into dire and desperate situations uh is just a level of disingenuity on their part thank you so much Aang akena there so let’s move on and for centuries economic ties between Africa and Europe have been strong recently the war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions against Russia have pushed investors towards Africa’s oil gas and mineral wealth now for instance in North Africa and particularly Algeria which has become the second largest pipeline gas supplier to Europe after Norway according to the Natural Gas intelligence data and Morocco has also become the main car exporter to the European Union by taking advantage of its proximity and trade ties to Europe surpassing traditional powerhouses like China Japan and India that’s according to data from the country’s exchange office right and let’s now go to Algeria where YF bundel a professor of political science at the Qatar University now joins us thank you so much for joining us does Europe increasingly need Africa to survive economically or is it the other way around and how can their ties be more Equitable well I think uh there is a mutual uh need between the two of course Europe does need Africa as you mentioned in your report a few minutes ago when it comes to energy supplies especially after the war on Ukraine uh Europe has depended more on Algeria for gas for instance and it also depends on other African countries in terms of some uh products Morocco in uh particular but it also depends on uh Africa as a whole and especially some North African countries in terms of talent we see for instance when you talked about immigration of course there has been some policies as far as tightening immigration is concerned but Europe as a whole and if I use France and Algeria for instance there are very very relaxed rules in terms of immigration for talented people if you look at for instance the National Health Service in the UK if all foreigners either from Africa or from India and Pakistan leave the National Health Service the heal service in Britain would collapse right so a couple of years ago for instance 1,200 Algerian doctors have moved to France because France relaxed the rules as far as medical doctors in Fr in France are concerned so it’s your have talented people in Africa who have been educated trained uh by African government and they have some experience and they move to France so on this matter this France so uh Europe needs Africa but on the other hand uh the a lot of African countries depend on Europe and in particular France especially the former col professor professor I’m going to have to interject because I need you to stay with me I want to take you to Tunisia now because the International Organization for migration says up to 20,000 migrants could be stranded and thousands more are being prevented from crossing the Mediterranean Sea because of anti- migration policies and funding Transit hubs in North Africa being championed across Europe by rightwing politicians so Professor again what would effective migration policies look like in North African countries if they’re to work well I don’t think they will ever work as as far as I’m concerned the only because we when we need to Define uh for instance what migration is there are some people who genuinely fear for their lives if you take Libya for instance Libya has been or after the Arab Spring and the death of colonal Gaddafi and the collapse of his uh system due largely to the interference of France in particular and Italy to a certain extent so some European countries and United States have caused havoc in a number of African countries as well as Middle Eastern countries Syria for instance Iraq Afghanistan and so on and so forth so these people are moving to other countries for safety reasons we call them refugees but they come under the banner of migrants there are Al several uh several migrant economic migrants those who are who move to Europe in search for a better life and to improve their economic uh circumstances when we look for instance at what the far right in France is proposing tighter uh border controls but this will not work by France itself unless the whole of Europe comes together in the shenen uh the the shenen area for instance you need a visa to go to France and or to Spain and from Spain you can go to any countries in this the shenen area without any border control so I do not necessarily buy the the idea that the French government or the French far right is going to uh to make the the B the botles tighter because it’s a smoke screen its way to sell this particular m to the French electorate because it’s very easy to blame the economic and social problems on migrants and Far Right parties in Europe are using this uh in order uh to get more votes secondly I think that Europe should uh should be must more should should leave Africans uh to themselves in in other words not to interfere so much in the choice of the leadership uh European countries interfere in whatever and the United States intervene interfere in whatever elections take place in Africa and they want their cronies M to be ruling those countries to serve their own interests so they talk about democracy human rights and so on and so forth this is for public conception what interests them is uh or is government who serve their interests in Paris London Washington and so on and so forth all right thank you thank you so much Professor Yousef bundle there now at the end of the day AFC afan countries need International partners and vice versa but they’re also advocating for a shared approach in solving the challenges they face while demanding respect for their sovereignity which has often lacked in the past some West African countries intend to forge a different path towards economic sovereignity particularly from France by ditching the CFA Frank L money is a step out of this colonization we are engaged in a process of recovering our total sovereignty it is no longer a question of our states being the Cash Cow of France France has robbed us of more than 107 years the African Union on its part wants Partnerships not dictation Africa does not extend its hands to Partners as a beggar as asking and not offering anything our ambition is higher we advocate for a parad shift for a new model of partnership that charts the path towards a fairer world we do not impose anything on our partner it does not impose anything on us our partnership is one of freedom and consensus let’s also hear from Auda he’s an author and African Affairs development analyst he joins me from Abuja Nigeria thank you so much sir for joining us do you think the French and Europe engagement with the African continent is likely to change if the leadership changes and if so how well it’s already changing Society is a dynamic and the one thing that uh we see with human societies that it’s always in the state of evolution so obviously the relationship right now is not what it was some 30 50 years ago there are new dynamics that are playing out across the continent of Africa and then of course there are new perceptions about what should entail government and you know and so uh obviously people are looking at their situation now and what it was before and they’re also looking at the future and they telling themselves that um what they have now is not a reflection of what they should be having in terms of you know their economic economic disparities the poverty and all that and so they tend to look back down the years and to see where the problem could be coming from and they feel that past relations you know or Partnerships have not exactly worked and so obviously the in some you know countries in the continent especially the countries that have that so much dominated the continent especially during the colonial period they’re talking essentially about France and Britain and then to a larger extent you had the Portuguese and the Germans that was much earlier you know so but essentially the French and then the British have been very very dominant in Africa and so what do you have today in Africa a continent that is blessed with a lot of riches uh both in human and material resources and yet w in the midst of poverty so there is a tendency for people to look back and then review the relationship that they have had with these countes to say look we have not exactly benefited from our longstanding relationship with them we need to look for new ways and new partners to to get things done and perhaps change our lives meaningfully right so uh let’s assume there was a partnership that respects African sovereignity um like economically and security wise how would that partnership look like yeah I think that the partnership would say of course there is what you have is a servant Master relationship you know in Africa between the great powers or the global powers and then the African continent and I think it was the American Secretary of State Anthony blinking that put it that put this in words when he came to Africa trying to stve trying to discourage Africa’s relationship with other you know dominant powers like of course the Chinese that I’ve been here for quite sometime and then of course you know that the Russians are also moving into the continent as well as other powers so he was talking he was actually acking the fact that the relationship that they have had with the African continent has been that of master or servant they might not have exactly that word you know but that there needs to be a new kind of part partnership that is respectful you know of the continent and uh so what it means is that you you must have uh you know Partners when people are Partners they sit down and they find the tense of partnership the tense of the relationship the reality is that Africa never sat down with the rest of the world with especially with Europe America France Britain they never really sat down to define the T of the engagement the T of the relationship and I think that that is what has to happen now especially in the midst of so many other powerful countries contending to get into the African continent it opens up an opportunity for Africa Africa in a way becomes the beautiful bride and when you are a beautiful bride you have you’re in a position to make determinations about and to give conditions to the very to the that come to you and then to decide you know what you want and how you want all of those so we in a position to impose certain conditions you know on the super so I think Africa find herself in that kind of a relationship with the the some of these dominant powers and and so it needs to be stressed out clearly you about the dos and don’ts of such a relationship right thank you thank you so much chuda there for your time and contribution a pleasure thank [Music] you atrias bam G became the first black African Rider to win a tour to France stage when he claimed Victory after a reduced Bunch Sprint at the end of the third stage km’s win for his inter marante team is a watershed moment for the sport with only two Southern African Riders having previously won stages on the tour as Brenda rido reports a photo finish and a dream come true for bam gmai who had set his sights on the tour France since I started cycling T France was yeah I’m never dreaming to be part of T France but now yeah I can’t believe it to win in t France second year in the big bunch Sprint yeah for me was unbelievable I just want to say thank you to my family my wife all the arrian and African we must be proud now we are really part of the big races the African continent is not known for cycling but the sport is gaining momentum there these Young Riders from South Africa and Randa are inspired by Trailblazers like gay in Europe the tour D Randa has grown from a small Regional cycling competition into one of the most important races on the continent and is used as a platform for African teams to test themselves against some of the the world’s best but the tour difference is a different Beast it’s always nice to be uh the first man in everything but sometimes it’s it’s a pressure you know because uh still now uh my country my nation it’s everybody behind us so yeah they try to to motivate us to win stage but I think second is not enough anymore uh from now on on so everything is about the winning so yeah I wish I will be again the first like to win tour in F on July 1st he made history winning a bunch Sprint at the end of the third stage to become the first Black Rider to win a stage in the tour def France Gaya battled it out at the Finish Line to beat Colombian Fernando gavia and Belgian anud D second and third respectively Ecuador’s Richard caparaz took the overall leaders yellow Jazz he is now focusing on the parie 2024 Olympics where he said says he will wrap up the biggest month of his career with the road race on August third Brenda rido Africa Mars Kenyans are burying their dead and counting the cost after weeks of protest by young people known as jenes put pressure on the government prompting President William Brut to withdraw a controversial finance bill despite that some protesters are calling for the President to resign and demanding more accountability by the government as isin [ __ ] reports a revolutionary movement is brewing in Kenya gen Z came to the streets to protest sweeping tax increases but now they want the vast gap between the rich and the poor the result of what they see as poor governance addressed we the genz youth are continuing with the demonstrations because things were fine during the former regime since president Ruto came in everything became more expensive and we want to the gap between the poor and the rich to be so the only difference here we have very big H between the poor and the rich and we wanted the our president to adjust the duck the duck Gap but every Revolution comes with its cost the family of 27y old Eric sheni know that only too well they see him as a hero who placed his life on the line to free the Kenyan people Eric was killed during last week’s controversial finance bill demonstrations in Nairobi losing his life in protest against Kenya’s government but one thing remained steadfast his unwavering determination to bring about change in his country and demand that politicians listen to Kenya’s gen Z anti-tax revolutionaries I hope it’s death represent our grievances I hope his death represent uh that you know we are pained if we have to die to get what is right to get quality services to get development it’s worth it it’s worth it I think it’s worth it yes in the last two weeks Kenya has experienced a decline in export activities by 177% Nairobi Stock Exchange alone has lost about $490 million since the protests began is that cost the fact that when people don’t go to work they don’t participate in productive activity businesses don’t open you know their losses you know some lose in terms of even the they sell because they sell Fresh Goods so if those fresh goods are not bought you know uh uh vegetables whatever you things like that fruits and the like then there’s a loss there but there’s also been uh the loss of course of uh you know uh withheld Investments uh because of uh scum people are holding people hold back people don’t want to put in their money because they don’t know what will happen that of course affects the stock exchange as the younger generation reads Eric theology perhaps oblivious to the circumstance es of his death one thing is clear it is their future he was fighting for is [ __ ] Africa matters Nairobi Kenya that’s our show this week share your thoughts and suggestions about the stories you’ve seen on this episode or ideas on what you’d like us to cover on YouTube or on X using the hasht Africa matters thanks for watching and it’s Keri from me Grace Korea kja [Music]