Perpetuating Crises at the Source?: (Inter)Regionalism and Normative Incoherence for Sustainable Migration in Africa

In response to the 2015–2016 migration crisis, the European Union established the Emergency
Trust Fund for Africa that aimed ‘to address the root causes of instability, forced displacement
and irregular migration and to contribute to better migration management.’ This article
questions the logic of this approach to migration management by asking whether African
regions can ‘better manage migration.’ The article examines the normative bases of
migration policies amongst the African Union (AU) and six regional economic communities
(RECs), as well as the normative bases of the development strategies pursued by the AU and
these RECs. The article proposes normative policy coherence for development as an
approach to better understand the relationships between regional integration, sustainable
development and migration management in Africa.