Can Africa thwart the next great migration crisis? European leaders hope so

More than 1.5 million migrants have surged into Europe since 2015. Now European leaders and their African counterparts are working to stop the next mass migration before it starts.

In Paris on Monday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain met with the presidents of Niger and Chad - as well as Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya’s unity government. They agreed on a new policy of registering “vulnerable” migrants at reception centres in Africa before they can seek asylum in Europe.

The war in Syria and conflict and poverty across Africa have caused a surge in migration over the past several years, prompting migrants and asylum seekers to pour into Europe, including along the deadly central Mediterranean route. To curb the flow, European leaders like Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have long called for increased screening in Africa. In return, they have promised their African partners significant developmental aid.

Monday’s summit was a victory of sorts for European leaders, who pushed for guarantees on tightened African border checks, increased Libyan patrols in the Mediterranean, and a crackdown on aid groups that carry out water rescues, which governments say enable traffickers to continue dangerous smuggling practices.

But migration advocates were quick to reiterate the problems with what they consider a deeply flawed bargain. The developmental aid Europe has promised, they say, can amount to funneling money to repressive regimes.

“It’s out of sight, out of mind,” Sophia Wirsching, a migration consultant for Bread for the World, a Protestant aid organisation in Germany. “Europe is attempting to shift its duty to countries that are not capable or willing to take on the responsibility for refugees.”

The migration issue continues to inflame domestic politics across the continent - and perhaps nowhere more so than Germany.