Summary

The Common Approach on Migration adopted by ECOWAS member States (Economic Community of West African States1) in January 2008 is a significant step in taking into account migration stakes and coordination. As the various contributions to this publication demonstrate, these stakes are at several levels (national, regional, international) and in various domains (economic, political, social and legal). West Africa’s effort in regional coordination has become particularly important with the international agenda focusing more, over these last few years, on migratory flows from the south towards Europe. These flows, widely covered by the media, obscure the human, social and even statistical realities of traditional migratory cycles which have shaped and built through the integration of populations, the great economies of today.