The Migration Dialogue in West Africa (MIDWA) Expert and Ministerial Meetings, held in Nouakchott, Mauritania on 6-7-8 October 2015 and supported by the Swiss government, focuses on managing the challenges of irregular migration in the region, including policy and operational solutions. It falls under the framework of Free Movement and Migration in West Africa (FMM West Africa project), a European Union (EU)-funded project implemented by the Consortium of Partners (IOM, ICMPD, and ILO) under the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission.
The FMM West Africa project seeks to maximize the development potential of free movement of persons and migration in West Africa and has a component on intra-regional dialogue and migration policy development, specifically designed to support the MIDWA process.
The reports of the MIDWA 2015 Experts and Ministerial Meetings are adopted and a common road map for the organization of the Malta Summit to be hold on 11-12 November is set out.
A certain number of Recommendations are formulated to and approved by the ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania, the ECOWAS Commission, the development partners and the international community, including:
Reinforce the fight against smuggling of migrants and networks of smugglers by strengthening cooperation between origin, transit and destination countries;
Create in each Member State a national framework for dialogue on migration involving all local actors;
Create an integrated ECOWAS Centre for the reception, registration and professional support for stranded migrants and returnees;
Create and deploy a team of Immigration Officers in Agadez to fight against networks of smugglers and ensure the protection of migrants’ rights in transit areas;
Create a cooperation platform with the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) for West African nationals in irregular situation in Central Africa;
Support the design and implementation of an ECOWAS Support Plan for the management of irregular migration and development.