Last week, the European Union and ICMPD launched a new MIEUX Action to support the Government of Mauritius in the elaboration of a National Migration and Development Policy and Action Plan.
The launch event on 3rd February brought together the members of the Migration Steering Committee of Mauritius, MIEUX experts, and representatives from the EU Delegation in Mauritius and ICMPD.
Mr. Oleg Chirita, MIEUX Programme Manager at ICMPD, said: “Mauritius has come a long way and has achieved significant results in terms of development and growth. What is more, the Government’s objective is to continue transforming Mauritius into a truly economically vibrant and innovative country with modern infrastructure, global connectivity, and high skills and technology”.
“In this context, migration can indeed present an opportunity for all. As such, it is important for Mauritius to establish a migration policy framework that incorporates the development dimension and promotes policy coherence to enhance the contribution of migration to development,” continued Mr. Chirita.
The five-day scoping mission in Mauritius entailed meetings with a series of national agencies in order to collect the most up-to-date information on the current state of play in the area of migration and mobility in Mauritius. The five days of meetings resulted in the identification of key strengths and weaknesses in the migration framework of Mauritius, as well as the setting of key objectives for the future policy.
Going forward, through a total of seven activities, MIEUX experts will advise the Mauritian authorities on suitable strategies to develop a sustainable national migration framework that will allow for maximisation of the positive benefits of migration processes through tools such as circular migration agreements.