Irregular Migration Governance in the East African Community: Assessing the Legal and Institutional Response

Abstract

Governance of irregular migration has recently occupied the
agenda of most Regional Economic Communities. The
agenda is being sparked by the existing intersect between
irregular migration and national security of partner states as
well as its implications to the economy and development
broadly. These initiatives also find justification in the fact that
migration governance is increasingly cross-cutting and
requires cooperation between States and regions. One of the
major tools used to achieve regional cooperation in migration
governance is adoption of coherent policies and measures.
This article surveys the East African Community (EAC)’s
legal and institutional frameworks designed to address
irregular migration in the region with a view to depicting the
existing gaps and their implications to irregular migration
governance. To achieve this objective, desk research and key
informant interviews were the resorted methodologies. The
article finds that, the key challenges facing irregular migration
governance in the EAC are incomprehensive frameworks,
implementation challenges, contradicting provisions in the
EAC laws, incoherent institutional framework and security
challenges. It is recommended that the identified challenges