The fight against migration

Money from the EU fund for Africa goes up in smoke

The majority of the aid money does not reach those in need.

(Bild: APA/AFP/FETHI BELAID)

With the help of the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), which was set up almost nine years ago at the height of the refugee crisis, the EU aims to combat the causes of flight and better manage migration flows. However, the European Court of Auditors has once again given the fund a poor report card. The majority of the financial resources of the five billion euro fund are not used in a targeted manner and therefore often fail to have the desired effect.

According to the latest audit report, which was presented on Wednesday, the money is often simply distributed to the 27 partner countries in three regions of the continent (North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, editor's note) in too many channels "according to the watering can principle". "The projects did not solve the most urgent problems," it emphasizes. Similar criticism was already made in the first special audit report on the EUTF in 2018.

"Fact-based" support
This time, the focus was primarily on projects in Ethiopia, Gambia, Mauritania, Libya and Tunisia. And in these countries, the claim to provide "fact-based" support proved to be unsuccessful. More than 100 research reports on the causes of displacement have been funded. However, most of the results were published too late, when almost all of the financial resources had already been allocated, writes the EU authority. This meant that the findings could no longer be incorporated into the projects.

The Court of Auditors also criticizes the lack of a "formal procedure for reporting, recording and following up on suspected human rights violations in connection with EU-funded projects". There is also a lack of evidence as to whether suspected cases are investigated at all. "The EU Commission is therefore still unable to assess which measures can best curb irregular migration and displacement in Africa," is another point of criticism.

Migrants from Africa in a Libyan port

(Bild: AFP)

List of demands from the EU Court of Auditors
Among other things, the Court of Auditors is therefore calling for the creation of a central register where all relevant documents relating to projects in partner countries are stored in order to make them more transparent. In addition, the fact-based focus on specific areas and groups of people should be strengthened and the accuracy of reporting on successes increased. Ultimately, the aim should be to gain knowledge from each project that will help improve future ones.

This is how much Austria contributes
Where does the fund actually come from? Most of the contributions (4.4 billion euros or 88 percent) came from the European Development Fund (EDF) and the EU budget - i.e. basically via membership contributions from EU member states, customs duties and import levies on imports from countries outside the EU, other income such as contributions from non-EU states to certain programs or interest on arrears and fines. Austria has contributed a total of 9.2 million euros to the EU Migration Fund for Africa, a large part of which (five million euros) is dedicated to the North African region.