North of Africa

The North Africa region is characterised as an area of origin, transit and final destination for mixed migration flows from sub-Saharan Africa, West Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, with some countries of these regions affected by on-going instability and conflict. It represents one of the largest destination regions for foreign labour and is a region of origin for migrants, albeit to a lesser extent. The instability still affecting some parts of the region, in particular Libya, continues to generate irregular movements to Europe, as well as an increase in the number of persons seeking international protection.

Despite the challenges, migration remains a powerful vehicle for development, essential for the long term growth perspectives of Europe and third countries. In this respect, remittances have significantly increased in the past twenty years while new destination countries become strong magnets for students seeking a high-quality education and diasporas' networks a vigorous channel for advocacy, investments, knowledge sharing and intercultural dialogue.

In this context, the global objective for the North of Africa of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF for Africa) is to contribute to safe, secure, legal and orderly migration from, to and within the region and support an effective management of migration flows that protects human rights. As migration is a complex phenomenon, a cross-border approach is put forward through the different regions covered by the EUTF for Africa to allow the development of joint actions along the migratory routes which concern these countries.

Check out the factsheet to learn more about the EU support on migration in North Africa:

the EUTF North of Africa regional factsheet