James Crisp
Europe Editor
25 September 2024 7:23pm
Illegal immigration from Africa has not slowed despite the European Union spending billions of euros to tackle the root causes of migration, the bloc’s financial watchdog has warned.
The Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, set up by Brussels in 2015, has failed to dissuade migrants or do enough to protect them from human rights abuses, according to a European Court of Auditors report published on Wednesday.
Bettina Jakobsen, the lead EU auditor on the investigation, told reporters: “The Commission is still unable to identify and report the most efficient and effective approaches to reducing irregular migration.”
The European Commission-managed initiative was set up after the 2015 migrant crisis when more than one million people arrived on the Continent. Since then its budget has almost tripled from €1.8 billion to €5 billion.
It aims to convince migrants not to make the perilous crossing to Europe by funding projects tackling poverty, unemployment and conflict in their home countries.
But Ms Jakobsen said it should “target the aid more thoroughly into what is actually urgent and needed in specific areas and specific countries”.
She added: “Human rights risks have not been properly addressed by the commission and there are weaknesses in the accuracy and sustainability of the reported results.”
Ten officers reported possible rights abuses in different parts of Africa, but the commission only had a record of one allegation. The auditors could not establish whether that case was followed up.
A UN-appointed investigator has said EU assistance to Libya’s migration department and coast guard “has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes”, including crimes against humanity. The commission rejects the allegation.
Auditors said EU-funded “equipment could be used by actors other than the intended beneficiaries”, and that Libyan staff trained by Europeans “may not be committed to the do-no-harm principle”.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 30,000 people have died or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014.
The commission said it had to improve its ability to identify and mitigate risk, including to human rights.
“This will be addressed by providing more detailed sectoral guidance material and training,” it said.
As of last year, the fund helped send 73,215 migrants voluntarily back to their home countries. In the first half of 2023, 11,087 jobs were created or supported, mostly in Guinea and Senegal, while 23,266 people received skills training.
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