Recent European Union (EU) migration policies increasingly externalise to Africa problems the EU cannot resolve internally. This is despite over a decade of evidence that externalisation undermines African priorities, reduces African agency and erodes the promise of an equal EU–Africa partnership. The focus is shifting from offshore processing towards expelling migrants who have no right to remain in the EU to third countries they have no connection to. The African Union and African governments should resist these pressures and, at the very least, insist on transparence.

About the author

Aimée-Noël Mbiyozo is a Senior Research Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies. She is a migration expert whose research covers climate change, gender, refugee rights, violent extremism and citizenship.