The Regional Civil Society Organization (CSO) Sensitization Forum, from 17-19 May 2022 in Accra, Ghana on the African Union Continental Free Movement Protocol (FMP), convened by ECOSOCC and Germany/Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GmbH (GIZ) concluded with a communiqué which read as follows:
We:
- Acknowledge that AU Heads of State and Government have adopted the requisite policy decisions on the free movement of people including Agenda 2063. In this context, we recall the decision of the AU Assembly Decision (DEC.607/ (XXVII) on the free movement of persons and the Single African Passport adopted by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government at its 27th Ordinary Session held in Kigali, Rwanda in July 2016. In this decision, the Assembly urged all AU Member States to adopt a single African passport and to work with the AU Commission to facilitate the issuance at the national levels, based on international policy provisions and continental designs and specifications.
- We commend the 12 ECOWAS member states that have already signed the African Union Continental Free Movement Protocol and the three (Niger, Sao Tome and Principe and Mali) that have ratified all relevant AU instruments on the free movement of people. We encourage the other ECOWAS and ECCAS member states which have not ratified to do so ahead of the upcoming 60th Anniversary of the OAU/AU in May 2023.
- We commend ECOWAS member states that issue visas on arrival to fellow African citizens and we urge other ECOWAS and ECCAS member states to put in place necessary measures to ensure either the removal of visas for fellow Africans or the issuance of visa on arrival for African citizens without compromising the necessary security precautions.
- We appeal to ECOWAS and ECCAS member states to give full effect to the spirit of the free movement protocol and refrain from imposing harsh penalties on fellow African citizens. Governments should put in place the necessary mechanisms and infrastructure to facilitate the usage of, among others, the ECOWAS card and other African travel documents.
- We urge ECOWAS and ECCAS member states to address all institutional, legal and regulatory obstacles and as well as capacity gaps in order to give full effect to the free movement protocol in the ECOWAS and ECCAS regions. We also encourage all ECOWAS and ECCAS member states to place resources at the disposal of their citizens for effective civic education and sensitization on the Freedom of Movement Protocol as a way to prevent xenophobia and stigma.
- We emphasise the need for ECOWAS and ECCAS member states to strengthen and deepen mutual trust for collaboration in addressing security, climate and humanitarian challenges that affect the free movement of people, in order to prevent organised criminal groups, violent extremists, and other non-state armed groups from taking advantage and exploiting free movement of people.
- We underscore the importance of structured and institutionalized collaboration between and amongst ECOWAS and ECCAS member states, immigration, defence, security and intelligence, humanitarian agencies and labour unions and civil society working in close collaboration with the relevant African, local government and international institutions in order to share knowledge and information, mutual assistance, scalable practices as well as develop requisite capacity development.
- We stress the urgent need to modernize border management systems and rationalize labour migration, and other relevant policies including by using advanced information communication technologies (ICTA) and enhancing the skills of personnel in order to prevent violent extremism, transnational organized crimes and illicit trade in natural resources and cultural goods.
- We urge ECOWAS and ECCAS to strengthen mechanisms for protection of migrants, refugees and IDPs within the two regions as well as combat xenophobia.
- We request ECOWAS and ECCAS member states, the ECOWAS Parliament, and national parliaments to expedite the ratification, domestication and implementation of the African Union Continental Protocol on the free movement of persons, pursuant to the African Union Assembly decision (Assembly/AU/DEC.607 (XXVII)).
- We implore ECOWAS and ECCAS member states that, in resolving any matters that arise within their territories, be they security related, humanitarian, economic, political, social etc, they should avoid taking such measures that would undermine the rights as enshrined in the FMP and related policy frameworks and become punitive to vulnerable communities.
