Congo and France sign accord on migration management, co-development
Journal Chretien
vendredi 26 octobre 2007
Congo signed on Thursday in Brazzaville an agreement on the management of migration influxes and co-development, thus becoming the third French-speaking African country after Senegal and Gabon to be bound with Paris by such an agreement, APA noted.
The Congolese Foreign Minister Basile Ibouebe and French minister of immigration, national identity and co-development Brice Hortefeux signed the accord.
Hortefeux arrived in Brazzaville on Thursday evening on a 48-hour working visit to Congo.
This agreement falls in line with the new concerted migration policy France wants to set up with African countries, Hortefeux noted.
He added that the accord has been conceived to better organise the migration exchanges taking into account the realities of countries of origin and destination countries.
According to him, this partnership agreement will serve as a model to European and African countries, for it includes a global approach on the social aspect of immigration, the fight against illegal immigration, co-development and development, to assure a better surveillance of borders.
On his part, the head of the Congolese diplomacy noted that the agreement concretely meets the concerns of French and Congolese governments and their peoples, concerning the movement of people, the readmission of people in illegal situation, police co-operation, co-development and development aid.
It goes beyond the bilateral framework, he said, noting that the issue of migrations and development is the centre of often rich and passionate debates at UN as well as at the International Migration Organisation (IMO) levels, as part of the Africa-Europe partnership.
Ikouebe reaffirmed the commitment of the Congolese government to take all the necessary measures to accelerate and guarantee the full implementation of this accord.
LCM/lmm/plp/ad/APA 26-10-2007
