Migration: Spain Stresses Importance of ‘Rabat Process’

Spanish Secretary of State for Migration, Isabel Castro, underlined, Thursday, the importance of the “Rabat Process”, resulting from the 1st Euro-African Conference on Migration and Development, held in Rabat in July 2006, as a meeting and dialogue forum for current and future migration processes. The Rabat Process is “a meeting point for debate for the present and future of migration processes of great importance for Europe and Africa,” said the Spanish official, who co-chaired in Malaga a conference on legal migration with Nigeria’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, within the framework of the “Rabat Process. Castro emphasized the need to have, as part of this process, “tools and supranational mechanisms to advance the rights of citizenship and strengthen ties and continue to seek meeting points and solutions to the challenges of today’s societies. To achieve these objectives, the official expressed her country’s willingness to continue working on projects that aim to consolidate the paths for regular, safe and orderly migration with Africa. The “Rabat Process” aims to create a framework for dialogue and consultation where tangible and operational initiatives are being implemented. It reflects a new vision of migration issues.