The global financial crisis, rising gas prices and climate change means richer countries should do more to help poorer nations, European development commissioner Louis Michel said Monday during the opening ceremony of the new established Centre for Migration and Management, the CIGEM (Centre d’Information et de Gestion des Migrations) in Bamako, Mali.
It’s clear that climate change, the financial crisis, the increase in energy prices, all these global challenges are going to make the situation more dramatic for the poorest countries,” Michel told AFP in the Malian capital of Bamako.
The former Belgian defence minister said the current crisis meant there should be a greater effort from developed countries to help poorer ones.
The European Union hopes such information centres will not only curb illegal immigration but also help those who want to move to Europe legally, French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux said at the opening.
“This centre will allow us to work on all aspects of the issue: to facilitate legal migration and inform people of the possibilities for legal migration; to show people the risks of illegal immigration and to battle against it,” he explained.
“Illegal immigration is a wild dream, rushing towards an Eldorado that doesn’t exist anymore,” he warned.
“Mali and France will have to find solutions to our common problems,” said Mali’s President Amadou Toumanu Toure.
“Let’s speak clearly, a solution of 100 percent security is not realistic but neither is (a) 100 percent humanitarian solution. The real trouble is finding work for young people,” he added.
Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Human Aid, said the centre was about promoting a more positive conception of emigration.
“It is a bridge that unites African and Europe and which should avoid the voyages by dug-out boats that have led to thousands of deaths,” he added, referring to the often fatal crossings attempted by would-be immigrants.
One Senegalese watching the proceedings, who had spent time in Europe as an illegal immigrant, said the centre was a symbol that people like him had not been forgotten.
“For me, to build a centre like this, it shows me that Europe and Africa agree that they need to think about us,” the man, who did not give his name, said
The “CIGEM” is the Centre for Information and Migration Management is the result of cooperation between the Malian government, in particular the Minister for Malians Abroad and African Integration, and the European Commission, and seeks to address the phenomenon of migration.
The aim of the Centre is to help Mali to define a Malian migration policy addressing the concerns of potential migrants, returning migrants and migrants residing outside Mali. It will serve as a one-stop-shop for information and guidance for migrants.
The tasks of the Centre are to:
- welcome and provide information, guidance and support to potential and returning migrants (in the area of workforce mobility, integration into national and international labour markets)
- provide information on the legal aspects of migration and raise awareness amongst the population in order to prevent illegal migration
- reinforce the diaspora’s role in Mali’s development, inter alia by exploring ways to reduce the costs of transferring funds to Mali
- improve knowledge of migratory phenomena.
The Centre has an operating budget of €10 million for 2007 to 2011.
