Interview - Laurent Grosbois, regional director for the AMMi project (Ethiopia)

East Africa is marked by large-scale mixed migratory flows. These flows are made up of refugees and illegal migrants who take the same routes, but have different motives for migration and different needs. To improve the governance of migration in the region, since January 2016, the European Union has been financing the AMMi (Addressing Mixed Migration Flows in Eastern Africa) project. It is part of the Khartoum Process – a political dialogue which aims to strengthen cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants.

Implemented by Expertise France, the AMMi project targets ten countries : Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen. It has three objectives: strengthen the migrant reception centres, help national authorities fight the smuggling and trafficking of human beings, and provide specific and support to unaccompanied minor migrants.

Laurent Grosbois, AMMi's regional director, highlights the project's achievements and specificities.

What has the project actually achieved at this stageare the first concrete results of this project?

The capacity to respond to the most urgent needs has been strengthened.

An analysis has also been conducted of the smuggling of migrants and trafficking of human beings to identify the training requirements of security forces and actors in the justice sector in eight countries.

Finally, the first training course took place in May 2017.

What are the specific aspects of the work in this region?

The cultural diversity and differences in the legal-political models led us to tailor our approach to the regional context and to national specificities. In addition, as many cooperation projects are being conducted in the region, we have had to establish a coordination framework to ensure that our actions are complementary.

What is Expertise France’s main asset in this project?

Our experience of integrated project management. Expertise France can mobilise public expertise, it is French and Italian here, while coordinating the actions of partners in the field, IOM and DRC in this case. This both strengthens the assistance and protection and raises the awareness of populations on the risks of illegal migration.