A Multi-Million Euro Investment: EU and Mauritania Address Illegal Migration and Sahel Regional Stability
E.U. Commission President and Spanish Prime Minister recently shook hands with the President of Mauritania regarding a migration deal between their respective countries. The European Union unveiled the allocation of 210 million euros towards fighting the drastic situation in Mauritania. Infamously a hub for human trafficking and people smuggling, the country grapples with new challenges as tensions across the Sahel region aggravate. The E.U. pledged around 8.5 million euros in 2023 alone to Mauritania. However, the deal marks growing concern for the nation, notably as thousands of African migrants arrive in the E.U. as a consequence of a lack of border patrol, active conflict, economic and political instability, and human rights abuses.
Mauritania spent the past few years actively combating human trafficking and people smuggling through national initiatives. Since the founding of the Instance National to Combat Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (INCHTMS), the committee has conducted significant awareness campaigns on anti-trafficking and anti-slavery laws. Additionally, the 2015 and 2020 laws on the prevention and punishment of trafficking, which criminalized sex and labor trafficking and hereditary slavery, unfortunately, failed to convict the vast majority of traffickers.
The key to this problem? Mauritania’s central location. Situated in Northwest Africa and bordered for miles by the Atlantic Ocean, Mauritania consequently has been the preferred route for several trafficking and smuggling movements: from people to guns. African migrants use the borders of Mauritania to flee to Europe in hopes of a better life. Interestingly, the majority of those making the journey to Europe hail from Mauritania’s neighbors, Mali and Senegal. Both countries, deep in humanitarian crisis, rely on Mauritania - one of the most stable countries in the Sahel - as a buffer. Notably, people smuggling and human trafficking, though different human rights issues, often overlap. Those who initially consented to be smuggled may end up being trafficked or exploited before or upon reaching their destination. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, reiterates the aforementioned statement, claiming that “insecurity and the lack of economic opportunity in the region are pushing many people to migrate, [causing] many to fall into the traps of cynical smugglers and [putting] their lives in danger.”
In January of 2024 alone, 7,270 migrants landed on Spain’s Canary Islands, estimated to equal around as many as the first six months of 2023. The Islands, typically a temporary destination before migrants reach Europe, lack the support to properly accommodate the influx of Africans. Red Cross volunteer Teseida Padrón expresses deep concern for incoming migrants, but reiterates the exhaustion of her community as well: “It’s been too much, we have limited resources [...] and we can’t give these people the care they need.” The sudden surge proves of natural concern to the E.U. and human rights organizations. The Atlantic Trekk, notoriously challenging, leaves incoming migrants deathly sick, or worse, dead already. Further, many ships disappear in between the coast of Africa and the Islands. Though Spanish and Mauritanian guards patrol the coast, attempting to control comings and goings, their influence proves limited. Most migrants continue to bypass security, arriving at the Canary Islands.
President Mohamed Ould Ghazoni, a key partner to the E.U. in the fight against people-smuggling, further solidifies his position while drawing attention to the burden that Mauritania faces in addition to humanitarian difficulties. Since the eruption of the Mali War in 2012, Mauritania has hosted thousands of Malian migrants, demonstrating the use of the country as both a stepping stone towards a European future and as a shelter away from active conflict.
Moreover, European funds aim to (hopefully) permanently end illegal migration to the continent, leaving Mauritania to take on all those who hope to board ships but are stopped. Mauritania, worthy of praise for its willingness to take on Malian refugees, unfortunately, lacks the proper resources to properly house, feed, and clothe thousands of new refugees.
The E.U.’s extra 210 million euros hope to mitigate the result of tightening security around the borders. Further, the continent understands that the continued stability of Mauritania is pivotal to efforts towards balancing the Sahel region. Accordingly, Von de Layen pledged another 22 million to stabilize a “very precarious” situation. Additionally, Von de Layen and Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, hope to fund green hydrogen production in Mauritania as part of the E.U energy transition initiative, and likely to later foster economic prosperity in the country and job opportunities. The rest of the money will support the training of military officers, the reinforcement of military camps on the eastern border with Mali, and provide an additional battalion to subdue outbreaks of terrorism.
Naturally, the E.U. faced criticism for a ‘surface-level’ approach to a humanitarian disaster. While Mauritania continues to make active efforts, Monica Lopez Martín, Spain’s Commission for Refugee Assistance, notes that the E.U. is already outsourcing duties to other African countries, among them Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. As demonstrated in the migration deal, her critique bases itself on the fact that the E.U. tends to place responsibility on ‘third-party’ countries, in this case, Mauritania. Several of these countries - Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and even Mauritania - fail to meet international standards for human rights, potentially endangering the lives of the migrants left at their borders. European foreign policy, under immense domestic pressure, prioritizes containing the arrival of migrants to the continent before addressing human rights issues.
Without a doubt, the success of these efforts depends upon effective implementation, regional collaboration, and the assessment of underlying socioeconomic factors – most importantly war – that drive migration. However, through cooperation and E.U. investment, there is hope for a brighter, more secure future for both Mauritania and its struggling neighbours.
Image courtesy of Vix Mørá via Flickr, ©2008. Some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
