ABSTRACT

Measures of migration governance are often included in branches of international law not traditionally understood as “Migration law”, such as Development and Cooperation Agreements. This new GMC publication is focusing on the “readmission clauses” within these agreements, which aim at facilitating the return of people (often from ‘developing countries’) who are residing in a country (often a ‘developed state’) irregularly.

This dissertation explores the (mis)use of development aid as a conditionality to address the readmission of migrants adopted in the Cotonou and Samoa Cooperation Agreements alongside other bilateral agreements on development aid and assistance – including those that Italy and France have signed with third countries.

Adopting a critical post-colonial approach, Federica Nucita investigates the reasons why African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states agree on these readmission clauses within the context of Cooperation and Development Agreements. She demonstrates that development aid has been provided only insofar as developing countries agree to collaborate with the EU in curbing migration and this strategy reveals the neo-colonial legacies embedded in Development and Cooperation Agreements.

You can access the new GMC publication here.