Thematic Meetings

On 8^th and 9^th November, the Trilateral Meeting between the representatives of the AU-Horn of Africa Initiative, the Khartoum Process, and the Rabat Process took place in Luxor, hosted by Egypt.

Delegates, country representatives and international organisations as well as experts from all three Processes, engaged in a series of plenary and breakout sessions throughout the two day meeting. What ensued were fruitful discussions between the representatives of all Processes on the matters of migrant smuggling and trafficking of people, focusing on unaccompanied minors, where participants agreed to enhance operational synergies, advance joint efforts in addressing the common challenges, and expedite information flow between the processes.

On 5-6 July 2017, the UK hosted EU and African partners of the Khartoum Process to agree on how to combat smuggling and trafficking in the Horn of Africa. The thematic meeting was specifically on ‘Tackling People Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings, including through enhanced Border Management’. Discussions were therefore focused on cross-border investigative cooperation; capacity building; stronger governance; and compatible legislative frameworks. 

There was evidently strong discussions and desire for cooperation between the participants and discussions led to tangible points for action and follow up. Significant contributions were made by African partners and Expertise France (French Agency for international technical cooperation).

Amongst the key topics, a need to tackle cross-border financial flows: both small payments to smugglers and larger transfers of profits, was also highlighted. Participants agreed to focus on key transit hubs to combat smugglers and traffickers and to build trust with locals and migrants alike. 

The UK will now work with partners to develop an action plan, which will be presented to the Khartoum Process Steering Committee in October, to ensure delivery within the areas highlighted.

The Khartoum Process held its first thematic meeting on 2017 in Berlin, hosted by Germany one of the Process' five (of ten) European Steering Commitee Members.  The meeting, taking place on 18 and 19th May, was opened by Commissioner Grzeski and welcomed experts from across the region on the topics as well as key representatives and experts from the UNHCR, IGAD and the World Bank, amongst others. Uganda also joined the Process for the first time during its inception in the steps to obtaining membership of the Process. For the first time in the Process, the delegates were split into small groups of subtopics under the theme to brainstorm solutions to many of the challenges raised.

The below include some of the concluding remarks of the meeting, communicated by the Chair:

Key observations

• Protection challenges are high. In many cases, they are not specific to refugees but are more development and environmental challenges to refugees and host societies alike.
• In the future, we will have even more competition for resources due to the demographic developments. What we need is the “whole of society” approach. The key requirement is the political will. We need clarity on policy and political framework.
• We have discussed how durable solutions can be reached and could look like. Key among them is the access to education and livelihood. 
• It became equally clear that donor interventions and the international community at large have to always keep the interest of the host communities in mind.
• Several participants also mentioned that we need a stronger engagement of the private sector. 

Next steps

• The issues are currently addressed via several global initiatives. We have to create synergies between these.
• The meeting has helped participants to learn more about what is really needed. This was very useful for the identification of future priorities and the existing gaps in project portfolios.
• The “whole of society” approach is necessary; but it requires new thinking both in the humanitarian and development community.
• Finally, we have to continue our work on finding legal and orderly pathways.

The 2nd thematic meeting of the Khartoum Process focused on return, readmission and reintegration - in line with the fifth priority domain of the Valletta Action Plan.

It took place in Addis Ababa on 19-20 October 2016 and was hosted by Ethiopia and co-chaired by Ethiopia and Italy.

The meeting addressed returns from Europe as well as returns from transit and host countries within Africa and the neighboring region, including small-scale returns - voluntary and enforced -, and large-scale voluntary repatriation of refugees when conditions in their home countries permit.

The first Thematic Meeting of the Khartoum Process was dedicated to tackling people smuggling, with a particular focus on regional law enforcement and judicial response.

It took place in Khartoum on 24-25 May 2016 under the chairmanship of the UK and was co-convened and hosted by the Republic of Sudan.

Participants discussed ways to better tackle people smuggling by improving information sharing, investigations into criminal activities, border management, and prosecutions and legislation.