Without centuries of dialogue and migration across the Mediterranean world, Egypt, and all Mediterranean counterparts, would not be where and what they are today. The Mediterranean, in fact, was once viewed as a bridge between North Africa and the European world for the exchange of goods, ideas, and naturally, for the movement of people between empires and, later, nation states (Moreira Rodriguez Leite, et. al 2020; Holdermann et. al 2020; 2021). Relatively speaking, only recently has the Mediterranean Sea been viewed by some as a border between the European continent and its North African neighbors to keep people on the African continent and outside of Europe. As times have changed, so has migration and the questions surrounding the movement of people. Together with the increasing volume of people on the move, we are seeing, amongst other things, changing demographics, advancing technology, evolving needs of labor markets and continued challenges posed by wars, shortages, human rights violations, increased inequalities between the Global North and the Global South and climate change as drivers for migration. In fact, humanity has always been on the move and we will continue to do so in search for new opportunities and for exchange. In recent years, however, migration is often declared in mass-mediated public discourse and the dominant political debate to be a “crisis” that needs to be controlled and often to be hindered through myriad tactics of bordering. Alongside the proliferation of migrant struggles and suffering in transit border zones across the planet, the Mediterranean Sea has incontestably earned the disgraceful distinction of being the veritable epicenter of border crossings (De Genova 2017). Any solution in this region should be based on a dialogue between the sending, transit and receiving countries. A dialogue which takes into consideration not only the interests and needs of the nation-states but also the aspirations of (potential) migrants and the protection of human rights. In fact, the dialogue between countries of the Mediterranean world on the topic is constantly adjusting to the 21st century world, which seems to be a world in a constant state of flux.

This DAAD exchange-project aims at exploring current changes and discussions being held around migration dialogue between Europe and the North African Mediterranean world. The project seeks to establish a research network for migration scholars and institutions in the Euro-Mediterranean Region that will last beyond the funding period. We will build up such a network between the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, the Global South Studies Center at the University of Cologne (UoC) and the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC). We will build up a network in the MENA region, coordinated by the AUC and the regional office of the UoC in Cairo. Students in Cologne and Cairo will become aware of the global challenges of migration, researchers from PhD to post-doc and Professor levels will work together for a more coherent view in the global migration phenomena.   

The main question this project will analyze is how the dialogue and relationship between the European Union and the Mediterranean world has changed in the past few years and how this affects the relationships within this region as well as the lives of (potential) migrants when it comes to migration governance. In addition, this project wants to address whether the newly-funded development projects, for example the European Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), are fulfilling their main objectives and how the migrants and host communities are benefiting or not benefitting from said development aid.

To sum up, in order to have a better understanding of migration movements, politics and dynamics between the two shores of the Mediterranean, including historical and contemporary power relations and geo-political interests, an intercultural, interdisciplinary and intersectional framework and dialogue are needed.