Activities

 On 31 March 2021, more than 100 attendees and panelists met online during a 2-hour long webinar on the Prevention of trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

The webinar was the first in a 4-Module Webinar Series titled Trafficking in Human Beings:  The 4Ps Revisited, each tackling one of the 4Ps of THB – Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership.

The objective of this first webinar was to present regional and national initiatives linked to the prevention of exploitation for the purpose of forced labour, through improved management of labour migration, as well as to discuss the means of reducing fraudulent or abusive recruitment practices and promoting better-informed, rights-based migration.

A Steering Committee (SC) Meeting of the Khartoum Process took place virtually, on 2 December 2020, hosted and chaired by the 2020 Chair of the Khartoum Process, The Netherlands. SC members represented (in alphabetical order): African Union Commission, Egypt, Ethiopia, European Union (DG DEVCO, EEAS, DG HOME), France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Sudan, and Sweden.

The aim of the meeting was for SC members to exchange on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the work of the Khartoum Process and jointly explore constructive ways of fulfilling the mandate of the Process in the coming months. Despite the unusual current circumstances, the work of the Khartoum Process remains valuable and supports partners in tackling the mobility-associated challenges of the new context and beyond.

The Chair opened the meeting by referring to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the work of the Khartoum Process, namely the travel restrictions which made it impossible for in-person meetings, as platforms for dialogue, experience sharing, and networking in the framework of the Khartoum Process, to take place.

Against this backdrop, new ways of communicating and exchanging have been explored between March 2020 and the date of the Steering Committee, aimed at keeping channels of communication open and helping partners respond to emerging issues.

Agenda items included proposals for the 2021 workplan, the Joint Valletta Action Plan update and the JVAP database, an update on the 2020 activities to date and proposals of new formats of activities.

Two thirds into 2020, the trio of linked crises — the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic and protection crises — have been affecting mixed migration dynamics all over the world. Countries along the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe are no exception to this reality.

Understanding the medium- and long-term implications of COVID-19 on migration for Khartoum Process partners poses a series of questions: How will the crisis impact mixed migration drivers, the aspirations of potential migrants and their capacity to move? In light of a potential increase in the aspirations (or need) to migrate, and rising border restrictions, will the demand for smuggling services increase? How is the crisis impacting the journeys of people on the move and their exposure to protection violations? How does this affect particularly vulnerable groups, such as families with children and women traveling alone? What are the implications for national and regional migration policies and responses?

The current global COVID-19 pandemic, the health security measures, and the ensuing travel restrictions have widespread consequences for people across our regions. Although the pandemic and consequent measures have limited the possibility for Khartoum Process partners to meet in person, this has not prevented the dialogue and cooperation from continuing.

To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Khartoum Process activities, as well as address some of the pandemic’s consequences, The Netherlands, in its capacity of Chair of the Khartoum Process, has been exploring new formats of activities for the short- to medium-term, until the international situation will allow for the resumption of in-person meetings.

The first such activity took place on the 2^nd of July, in the form of a virtual meeting, gathering online over 50 participants.

On the 5^th of March 2020, Khartoum Process partners’ representatives met in The Hague, The Netherlands, for the 7^th Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Process. Delegates had the opportunity to take stock of the work carried out during the Eritrean Chairmanship, discuss governance matters, and agree on a way forward for the finalisation of the Joint Valetta Action Plan update, initiated in April 2019.

This meeting also marked the Chairmanship handover from Eritrea to The Netherlands. As a result, the work plan for the Chairmanship of The Netherlands was also broadly defined on this occasion.

Participants confirmed the value and relevance of the Khartoum Process as a forum to discuss issues of common interest for the countries along the migration route in the Horn of Africa and Europe in order to identify concrete areas of cooperation.

On 23^rd – 24^th of October 2019, the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative (Khartoum Process) convened a Thematic Meeting on Migration for Development: Harnessing the Potential of Diaspora. The meeting was hosted and chaired by Eritrea and co-chaired by Switzerland.

The meeting has been attended by Khartoum Process partners representatives (Khartoum Process countries, the African Union Commission, the European Commission, the European External Action Service, IOM, UNHCR, GIZ), representatives of UNCDF, IFAD, AFFORD, World Bank / KNOMAD, and ADEPT, as well as relevant private sector representatives from MFS Africa and Homestrings.

On the 24^th-25^th of September 2019, Egypt, together with Portugal as co-chair, hosted the Khartoum Process Thematic Meeting on Legal Frameworks and Policy Development: Optimising the Benefits of Organised Labour Migration.

This meeting was organised in response to the expressed interest of the Khartoum Process membership to address the Joint Valletta Action Plan (JVAP) in its entirety, alongside the priorities charted in the Rome Declaration, with the corresponding focus on addressing the challenges of trafficking of human beings and smuggling of migrants.

As underlined in the Analysis Report of Khartoum Process prepared for the JVAP Senior Officials’ Meeting in Malta in February 2017, legal migration should be further strengthened by encouraging policies that promote regular channels for migration, whilst recognising that progress has been made in respect to specific references to increased opportunities for students and researchers.

In the framework of the Khartoum Process, Senior Officials' Meetings are the main fora for policy dialogue, offering a unique opportunity for Members to exchange views on the progress made individually and jointly and the way forward in achieving the aims of the Process. 

The most recent Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) took place in Asmara on 7^th March 2019 and marked the beginning of the Eritrean Chairmanship of the Khartoum Process. The chairmanship of the Process is ensured on an alternating basis from among African and European participating States. With Italy as the outgoing Chair, Eritrea took up this role for the year of 2019.