An Afro-European dialogue on migration

“Migration is not about numbers, it is about people. Behind the numbers, there are men, women, children, all with their own unique feelings, experiences, fears, hopes, and stories; each with their dignity and their right to strive for a better life. As the way we deal with migration will affect their right to move and lead a decent life, and the stability and cohesion of the receiving communities, progressive migration and integration policies must be grounded in humanity and solidarity”.

In ‘10 points of reference for a progressive narrative on migration‘

These are the premises around which the Progressive Migration Group (PMG) founded its work, focusing on topics such as development aid, the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, externalisation of migration, labour migration and remittances.

On 8 November, the PMG unveiled the results of its reflections on the relations and cooperation between the European Union and the countries of origin and transit.

FEPS Global Migration Group
FEPS, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung EU Office and Fondation Jean-Jaurès came together to establish the Progressive Migration Group (PMG). The group, chaired by Anna Terron Cusi and composed of African and European migration experts, will continue exploring the relations and cooperation between the European Union and the countries of origin and transit, with the aspiration of abandoning the prevailing stagnant narratives surrounding migration, and above all with the ambition of formulating innovative recommendations and policy proposals for progressive forces at the EU and national levels in the field of migration management as well as in other policy areas that have an impact on migration causes and flows.

In particular, the project will focus on the ways these complex relations have been interpreted and translated into policies by the EU institutions mostly aimed to curb (irregular) migration by externalising migration control and management. This is a component of EU policy that is still prevailing also in the (New) Pact for Asylum and Migration, whose proposals are now the objects of negotiations at the EU level. The PMG will try to formulate alternative migration schemes between Africa and Europe, that take on board this deeper understanding of this nexus.