Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
39
Europe.110 As in other parts of Africa, migrants often make their journey across West Africa in
stages, stopping along the way to earn money to pay smugglers’ fees for the next leg of their
trip. Migrants tend to resort to smugglers only when the next stage of travel seems to be
insurmountable on one’s own.111 As there is little to no patrolling or policing of large swathes
of the desert, an unknown number of migrants die crossing the Sahara at the hands of
unscrupulous smugglers and human traffickers.112
2.4.2. Protection frameworks in West Africa
The countries of West Africa have introduced robust frameworks for humanitarian protection
at both the regional and national levels. These frameworks are rooted in the 1951 Convention
and the 1969 OAU Convention, and have been bolstered by the principle of free movement
instituted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The resulting
combination of national legislation and regional frameworks has provided refugees with
easier access to protection and better opportunities for durable solutions.
A regional dedication to the 1951 Convention and 1969 OAU Convention
All West African countries (15 of which are OIC members) are signatories to the 1951
Convention. In addition, the 1969 OAU Convention has had a significant influence on the
approach to protection in the region. Most West African states drew upon the 1969 OAU
Convention when drafting their refugee laws, and many countries thus apply the 1969 OAU
Convention’s expanded definition of a refugee that includes those escaping warfare or other
serious disturbances of public order.113 While the 1969 OAU Convention does not explicitly
introduce or promote the granting of refugee status on a prima facie basis, its expanded
definition of “refugee” lends itself to such a determination.114 As a result, refugee status was
often conferred on a prima facie basis during the major West African conflicts of the 1990s.115
Since the mid-2000s though, states have increasingly recognized refugees on an individual
basis under the 1951 Convention.116
Compared to other regions, West Africa has shown an exceptionally high dedication to
implementing national asylum regimes. Every state in the region except Togo has passed laws
recognizing the right to asylum and creating systems through which asylum claims are
processed. Despite the lack of asylum law in Togo, the government created the Office of
National Coordination of Refugee Assistance to provide protection in conjunction with
110 Smugglers’ activities have also become increasingly complex – for example, by engaging in visa and document fraud. BBC
News, “Migrant crisis: Who are Africa’s people smugglers?” April 23, 2015,
111 UNODC, Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa: A Threat Assessment , (Vienna: UNODC, 2013), 28,
112 The journey from Agadez to the Libyan border typically takes between three to six days in scorching heat and occasional
sandstorms. In June 2016 the bodies of 34 migrants were found in the Sahara – apparently dying from thirst after having
been stranded by smugglers. Conor Gaffey, “Why Niger is West Africa’s People-Smuggling Hub, “ Newsweek, June 17, 2016,
113 Rainer Hofmann, “Refugee Law in the African Context,” Heidelberg Journal of International Law, no. 52, (1992): 318-333
114 The 1969 OAU Convention facilitates the granting of refugee status on a prima facie basis as it is somewhat easier to
determine that a group of people are collectively fleeing from war or generalized violence than from persecution as defined
in the 1951 Convention. Marina Sharpe, “The 1969 African Refugee Convention: Innovations, Misconceptions, and
Omissions,” McGill Law Journal 58, no. 1 (2012): 121,
115 Charrière and Frésia, West Africa as a Migration and Protection area
116 Ibid.