freedom of movement, allowing travel and residence based only on a national identity card rather
than a passport.281
The ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on the Code of Conduct provides for expulsion of
undocumented migrants to be carried out “solely on strictly legal grounds”282 and Member States are
enjoined to “take all possible steps to ensure or facilitate the obtaining of the correct documents by
illegal immigrants”.283 The Supplementary Protocol on the Right of Residence provides for each State
to “grant to citizens of the Community who are nationals of other Member States the right of
residence in its territory for the purpose of seeking and carrying out income-earning employment.”284
Chapter V of the same Supplementary Protocol prohibits collective and arbitrary expulsion, and
Chapter VI provides for extensive rights of due process in case of individual expulsions.
The Revised Treaty of ECOWAS, adopted in 1993, aimed to accelerate the integration of economic
policy and improve political cooperation. It created a West African Parliament and an Economic and
Social Council, and replaced the existing Tribunal with an ECOWAS Court of Justice to enforce
community decisions. Chapter X, on cooperation in political, judicial and legal affairs, regional security
and immigration, recommitted member states, among other things, to the rights of entry, residence
and establishment for Community citizens.285 Chapter X of the Revised Treaty was supplemented by
further protocols, notably the Protocol for the Establishment of a Mechanism for Conflict Prevention,
Management and Resolution, Peace and Security, adopted in 1999; in turn supplemented by a
Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.286 Among other things, the Supplementary Protocol
on Democracy and Good Governance committed member states to the principle that “The State and
all its institutions belong to all the citizens; therefore none of their decisions and actions shall involve
any form of discrimination, be it on an ethnic, racial, religion or regional basis.”287
In more recent years, ECOWAS has adopted further documents addressing mixed migration from a
regional perspective, aiming to speed up the implementation of previous ECOWAS migration policies
but also (under pressure from the EU) to control migration to Europe. In 2007, ECOWAS confirmed, as
was already implied, that refugees are to be guaranteed equal treatment under the free movement
protocols with other Community citizens.288 In 2008, it adopted a Common Approach on Migration,
addressing mobility both within the ECOWAS region and between west Africa and other regions of the
world.289 In the Common Approach on Migration, the heads of state committed, among other things,
to “Formulate an active integration policy for migrants from ECOWAS Member States and combat
281
Traité de l’Union Monetaire Ouest Africaine, 1984, revised 2007, and associated directives.
Supplementary Protocol on the Code of Conduct, Article 3(6).
283
Article 5.
284
Supplementary Protocol on the Right of Residence, Article 2.
285
ECOWAS Revised Treaty, 1993, Article 59.
286
Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol Relating to the
Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security.
287
Article 1(g).
288
Memorandum on the Equality of Treatment for Refugees with other Citizens of Member States of ECOWAS
in the exercise of Free Movement, Right of Residence and Establishment, adopted by the Meeting of the
Committee on Trade, Customs, Immigration Accra 25-27 September 2007.
289
ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration, January 2008
282
82
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents