International mobility, local economics and European cooperation policies in the Central Sahara

Over the last decade, the European Union has put migration at the heart of its relations with North and West Africa. It finances a broad range of programmes that aim at a better management of migration, particularly in the Sahara, where regional labour migration is often assimilated, by European governments and a broader public, to onward migration to Europe. EU interventions in the area range from encouragement of legal reforms to assistance in the repatriation of migrants, via equipping border posts with means of control. The aim of this talk is to present the MOLECOPS project and its main objectives, namely an analysis of the nature, the practical results, the side effects and the global cost of European intervention in migration in the central Sahara (Niger, Chad).