The Migration-Related Security Issues in the Relations between the European Union and Africa

Relations between the European Union and Africa are being shaped by the issue of migration, which is increasingly approached as a “security” problem. At the same time, the progressive internationalisation of European immigration policies produces a dynamic of externalisation of control towards the African continent. In the unbalanced framework of Euro-African relations, the delegation of control over migratory flows is based on the conclusion of trade agreements and on development aid concessions, both of which are used as pressure instruments. The most evident result of this dynamic is the creation of a series of buffer zones on the African continent vis-à-vis migratory flows.