How nations could turn migration into opportunity rather than crisis

BY THE end of 2024, the world had reached a sobering migration milestone. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 43.7 million people were officially registered as refugees, while 123.2 million were forcibly displaced: equivalent to one in every 67 people on earth.

International migration overall climbed to 304 million. Among them were Europeans, Africans, and indeed, many of us who move, live, and work across borders. Migration, after all, is not an anomaly but part of human nature.

Yet, migration often turns tragic. On 3 October 2013, the world watched in horror as at least 365 migrants drowned off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy, after their overcrowded boat caught fire. The African Union (AU) declared 3 November a day of mourning, and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for a global framework to prevent such tragedies.

That call eventually led to the drafting of the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in 2018. Since then, migration has become a defining axis of Africa–Europe relations. No longer confined to humanitarian headlines, it now shapes diplomatic negotiations, development aid, counterterrorism strategies, climate governance, and debates over Africa’s demographic transition. At its core, migration is both a political flashpoint and a development question — central to how the EU and Africa understand one another, and themselves.

Migration is as old as humanity, but in the age of modern states and hardened borders, it has become a contested, politicised, and frequently instrumentalised issue. Africa–EU migration illustrates this complexity vividly. Since the so-called “2015 migration crisis,” migration governance has become a core instrument in EU policymaking and public discourse.

The EU’s latest framework, the Samoa Agreement signed in 2023, puts migration at the centre of defining future relations with African states. The agreement seeks “well-managed migration,” but also emphasises return and readmission; policy areas that remain highly sensitive for African partners. Thus, a striking divergence in perspective persists. European actors tend to view migration through the lenses of securitisation, border control, and cultural anxieties. African actors, by contrast, often see migration as developmental, mutually beneficial, and inevitable.

Part of the challenge lies in myths that dominate migration debates. A widely held belief is that Africans are overwhelmingly leaving the continent for Europe. The reality? More than 75 percent of African migrants remain within Africa, and the majority travel through legal routes rather than perilous crossings of the Sahara or Mediterranean. Migration is not the desperate flight of the poor alone: it is expensive, and those who move often do so with resources, skills, and determination. 

The linkage between conflict and migration, however, is real. Africa’s fragile security landscape continues to generate displacement, with violent conflict, terrorism, and governance crises compounding the drivers of mobility. But here too, the story is not one of inevitability: governance, investment, and regional cooperation can change outcomes.

Africa–EU migration is marked by divergent perspectives. For European policymakers, migration is framed largely through security and border control, while African actors stress its developmental potential and opportunities for both origin and destination countries. 

This asymmetry reflects a state-centric discourse in which the EU dominates the narrative, often sidelining African voices. Public debate is further clouded by persistent myths. Most African migration is intra-continental and legal, not the mass exodus across the Mediterranean portrayed in headlines. Yet moral dilemmas persist: African leaders confront rising xenophobia at home, while Europe resists extending to migration the same humanism it applies to trade and political ideals.

Policy language, “mobility” versus “migration,” “legal” versus “illegal”, adds confusion, while foreign aid aimed at tackling “root causes” rarely reduces migration. Still, migrants themselves sustain development through remittances that now exceed aid flows. With Africa’s youth bulge and Europe’s ageing population, managed migration could be mutually transformative if treated as an opportunity rather than a crisis.

For millions of Africans, migration is not a choice but survival. Failed leadership, structural violence, and misdirected external assistance have compounded desperation. Peacekeeping and border militarisation may ease symptoms, but do not resolve root causes. The real solution lies in institution-building, economic transformation, and investment in human capital. 

This means embracing a “bottom-up” approach: supporting African researchers, civil society, and migrant communities themselves to shape policies. It also means moving beyond securitisation to holistic strategies that address both the promise and perils of migration.

The tragedy of Lampedusa galvanised not only governments but also civil society and research communities. At stake is more than research: it is the struggle to define what humane, just, and sustainable migration governance could look like. 

Migration will not disappear. The question is whether Africa and Europe will continue to treat it as a crisis or whether they will embrace it as a shared opportunity for sustainable development. What is required is a paradigm shift: from securitisation to humanisation, from external control to mutual benefit, from myths to evidence. Migration is not only about border crossings but about people, dignity, and survival.

Akinola is an Associate Professor and Research Coordinator at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg.