The May 2010 publication by the Middle East Institute (Washington DC), Viewpoints- Migration and the Maghreb, contains several articles including “An Overview of North African Countries’ Bilateral Cooperation on the Removal of Unauthorized Migrants: Drivers and Implications” by Jean-Pierre Cassarino.
Excerpts from the article (at page 34):
“Since 1965, when Bourguiba’s Tunisia signed with Austria its first bilateral agreement on the repatriation of its own nationals, North African countries’ patterns of cooperation on readmission or removal have changed dramatically….
“[R]eadmission agreements are … one of the many ways to consolidate a broader bilateral cooperative framework, including other strategic, and perhaps more crucial, policy areas such as security, energy, development aid, and police cooperation….
“Faced with the uncertainty surrounding the concrete implementation of the cooperative agreements, some EU Member States, particularly those affected by migration flows originating in North Africa (e.g., France, Spain, Italy), set out to devise flexible arrangements while opting for different ways of dealing with readmission. These include exchanges of letters, memoranda of understanding, or other types of arrangements (e.g., police cooperation agreements and pacts)….
“Readmission is embedded in power relations that can shape the intensity of the quid pro quo. Following their proactive involvement in the reinforced police control of the EU external borders, North African countries have become gradually aware that they could play the efficiency card in the field of migration and border management, while gaining further international credibility….”
Click here for link to publication (see p. 34 for this article.)
Click here for the MIREM Project Inventory of Agreements Linked to Readmission.
MIGRANTS AT SEA 