Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2017

Discussions on migration in the fora responsible for development cooperation policy have continued to take an approach linking development and humanitarian policy with the goal of promoting economic development, resilience and access to employment and education. During these debates, Luxembourg has stated its position, namely that development cooperation can make a useful contribution to combating the deeper causes of irregular migration and forced displacements but it is not the only instrument required nor the panacea that will reduce migratory pressure.

In concert with the Directorate of Immigration, the MFEA’s Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs has been monitoring the decisions of the Valletta Summit and represented Luxembourg at the Senior Officials’ Meeting on the progress of the implementation of the Joint Valletta Action Plan on 8 and 9 February 2017. The Directorate took part in 2017 in the meetings of the Strategic Board and the Operational Committee of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa that was created following the Valletta Summit in November 2015 and to which Luxembourg has contributed 3,1 million euros. This fund had adopted by December 2017 actions amounting to a total of 2,387 billion euros.

Due to the complex security and migration situation in Libya, Minister for Development and Humanitarian Action Romain Schneider decided in September to allocate aid from Luxembourg amounting to 1 000 000 euros in order to contribute to addressing the most fundamental humanitarian needs. This humanitarian assistance, implemented by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) as part of the multi-annual strategic partnership that Luxembourg has with this UN agency, will be used mainly for the protection of refugees and the improvement of their detention conditions.

The prevailing conditions in the detention centres are very worrying to Minister Schneider. “It is therefore essential to support all the efforts of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees that aim to gain access to detained persons, not merely to ensure the distribution of aid but also the international protection of the persons concerned and the establishment of measures to prevent the risk of violence,” said the Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs.

Regarding the relationship between the five priority domains of the Valletta Action Plan and the sectors covered by the approved actions, nearly 60% of the actions relate to priority domain 1 – “development benefits of migrations” and 40% to the other four priority domains (Legal migration and mobility; protection and asylum; prevention of and fight against irregular migration, migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings; return, readmission and reintegration; cross-cutting actions). Luxembourg welcomed the fact that the majority of actions relate to the improvement of living conditions of populations in the countries of departure and transit of migrants and respond to the genuine needs of these countries and are therefore relevant to prevent the departures linked to poverty. Nevertheless, Luxembourg expressed regret that these activities take time to start and thus are not in step with the emergency nature of the Trust Fund.

The Directorate also took part in the steering committees of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey held in Brussels, to which Luxembourg contributed 4,3 million euros.