PREVIEW
The Pan-African Parliament hopes its example will encourage governments to protect migrants’ rights
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has moved closer to agreeing a model law to harmonise the treatment of migrants across the continent following three days of meetings in Nairobi last week.
‘The draft law addresses the liberties that migrants should enjoy when they move from their countries of origin to the destination countries. So, issues of xenophobia and abuse of the rights of migrant workers are going to be dealt with,’ said John Bideri, chair of PAP’s Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters (AC Vol 66 No 8, ‘Panicked by the far right’, Brussels spends billions on migration control in West Africa).
However, the proposal by PAP, which is the legislative arm of the African Union, depends on implementation by national governments and is reliant on political will. ‘We are looking at the model law as a communication tool rather than a law for enforcement on member states,’ Bideri said.
Though Europe’s media and political leaders focus on the numbers of African migrants arriving, intra-African migration is actually far higher. Between 1.5 million and 2m Africans move each year for work, most of them within the continent.
PAP officials say that the model law could reduce human trafficking and address exploitation of migration workers. The number of African labour migrants living in other African countries has increased by 25% over the past decade, reaching 15m in 2024, according to the International Organisation for Migration (Dispatches 19/5/25, Brussels puts migration ahead of trade and investment deals).
Despite upward projections of labour migration within and from Africa, the continent faces major challenges such as fragmented legal and policy frameworks and weak institutions, with some countries lacking agencies to deal with the issue.
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