Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
41
seminars, conferences, and working groups.125 The ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration
is an agreement adopted in 2008 between ECOWAS member states to harmonize their policies
regarding migration, while reaffirming their commitment to ensuring the protection of
migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees.126 The Common Approach on Migration also sought to
create migration monitoring systems, create pilot support centers for migrants and
operationalize a Regional Cross-border Cooperation Fund to finance initiatives designed to
promote free movement and integration.127
Regional cooperation has bolstered West African states’ ability to find durable solutions for
refugees, particularly local integration. The voluntary repatriation of refugees to their country
of origin remains the most politically popular option, as it symbolizes a return to peace and
the end of conflict.128 However, states have also been willing to integrate refugees who cannot
or would not like to repatriate, often drawing upon the Free Movement Protocol to facilitate
this process.129 For example, when UNHCR concluded its large-scale voluntary repatriation
program for Liberian refugees in 2007, it then worked with surrounding countries to promote
the local integration of the 80,000 refugees who remained outside of Liberia.130 In Guinea,
UNHCR launched a campaign to sensitize local authorities and the general public to the plight
of refugees remaining in the country, and worked to develop legislation protecting refugee
rights.131 Some have noted though that the real challenge to local integration is the refugees’
willingness to do so amidst limited socioeconomic opportunity: resettlement to the West
remains the most sought after solution as the poorer West African countries struggle to
provide aid to refugees, especially support for livelihoods.132
2.5. Forced Migration in East Africa133
Forced migration in East Africa is driven by long-standing political instability, conflict, and
lack of economic opportunity. As a region where many struggle with acute poverty and severe
drought, economic reasoning often guides the movements of forced and nonforced migrants
alike. In the Horn of Africa, protracted refugee situations with bleak outlooks for improvement
have left little room for repatriation or the development of circular migration patterns. Forced
125 IOM Mission with Regional Functions for West and Central Africa, “Migration Dialogue for West Africa (MIDWA) between
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),”
accessed August 1, 2016,
.
126 Global Forum on Migration & Development, “Migration Dialogue for West Africa,” updated July 18, 2014,
ECOWAS Commission, “Meeting of Ministers on ECOWAS Common Approach on
Migration,” paper prepared for meeting of ECOWAS ministers, Abuja, June 14, 2007),
Tony Luka Elumelu, “Promoting Labour Mobility through
Regional Cooperation. The case of ECOWAS” (presentation at the Workshop on Strengthening the Collection and Use of
International Migration Data for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, November 18-22, 2014),
127 ECOWAS Commission, ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration, (Ouagadougou: ECOWAS Commission, 2008),
128 Fresia, “Forced Migration in West Africa,” 549
129 Alistair Boulton, “Local Integration in West Africa,” Forced Migration Review , no. 33 (2009): 33,
130 Faya Foko Millimouno, “UNHCR helps Guinea ease the local integration of Liberian refugees,” UNHCR, August 16, 2007,
131 Ibid.
132 Boulton, “Local Integration in West Africa,” 34
133 This report considers the East Africa region to include the following OIC member states: Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and
Uganda. The analysis here also considers the prominent role of the following non-OIC member states: Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Kenya, and South Sudan.