Migration Patterns and Policies in Africa • 37
and Tunisia by offering cooperating partner countries increases in legal admissions. France, Greece, Italy, and Spain have entered into agreements that link readmission to various incentives (Cassarino 2009). Negotiations are underway between some West African governments and France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain to establish temporary migration programs as a means of discouraging undocumented migration. In general, Europe’s policies toward reducing undocumented migration from North Africa through bilateral agreements have evolved significantly over the past few decades (box 1.4). As return to one’s nation of origin is a fundamental right recognized in UN declarations and few countries have limits on return, the leverage that origin countries gain by promising to facilitate return is minimal. Some of the agreements with North African countries go farther, however, by including commitments to strengthen immigration controls to limit undocumented migration from Sub-Saharan Africa (a large portion of which is assumed to be in transit to Europe). Morocco and Tunisia, for example, have passed laws with severe penalties for assisting undocumented migration (de Haas 2007). These efforts may have resulted in human rights violations, including the return of refugees to countries where they face persecution and the holding of refugees and undocumented migrants in detention camps (Adepoju, van Noorloos, and Zoomers 2009). Return from transit countries is a contentious issue between West African countries and countries in North Africa.