Migration policy framework for Africa and plan of action (2018 – 2030) 2. Migration realities in Africa and the global context The global geo-political prominence of migration has greatly increased in recent times, as the world sees larger numbers of migrants than at any other time in history. The number of international migrants reached 244 million in 2015, a 41 per cent increase on the 2000 figure, whilst the number of international migrants from Africa reached 34 million, with nearly half of them being women. 1 Moreover, more people have been forcibly displaced than during, or any time since World War II, with figures reaching over 65 million by the end of 2015. 2 These trends take shape against the backdrop of the growing securitisation of migration, the externalisation of border control and increasingly restrictive migration policies, which have contributed to irregular migration. Global inequality, the lack of employment and decent work, poverty, conflict, gender inequalities and discrimination, terrorism and climatic pressure continue to drive people to search for a better life abroad. Mixed flows, consisting of different types of migrants and asylum seekers that use the same migration routes and means, have been on the rise. As legal pathways for migration have diminished, migrants are falling prey to smugglers and human traffickers. Consequently the lack of legal pathways for migration has contributed to record numbers of deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, with more than 5,000 people losing their lives in 2016 alone. 3 Reliable data on migrant deaths on other routes remain scanty, which means that even more people may be dying crossing the Red Sea and the Sahara Desert. 4 These dynamics have strained and called into question the world’s refugee system, which is struggling to provide adequate protection to more than 21 million refugees. In addition, the notion of a growing migration “crisis” and international terrorism have led to policies that seek to deter migration and jeopardise the protection of the rights of migrant women and men. Consequently, the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants took place in September 2016, and issued the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which UN Member States committed to negotiating the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the Global Compact on Refugees, over two years. 1 www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/migrationreport/docs/migration-regions-infographics.pdf 2 www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/2016/6/5763b65a4/global-forced-displacement-hits-record-high.html 18 3 www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/mediterranean-migra nt-deaths-2016-pass-5000-161223130357172.htm 4 www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-sahara-idUSKCN0ZV22C