The African Ministerial Summit on Migration was held in Egypt's New Administrative Capital at the beginning of April, with the participation of foreign ministers and representatives from 17 African countries known as “lead states” in implementing the Global Compact for Migration, along with the International Organization for Migration. The meeting preceded the International Migration Review Forum in New York in May, amidst a tense regional atmosphere. The ministers issued a joint statement called the Cairo Declaration, which focused on the need to unify the African position on migration. The declaration emphasized the priority of regular migration pathways, strengthening cross-border cooperation, and expanding employment and mobility opportunities.

There is an Egyptian proverb that summarizes the reality of this conference and its outcomes, “I hear your words and believe you, but when I see your actions, I am astonished.” The joint conference statement sought to project an image of “concern” for migrants and refugees on the African continent. This concern is a natural reflection of the concern of the participating countries, especially those bordering the Mediterranean Sea, from which migration and sea crossings to Europe originate. They claimed they wanted to formulate a unified African position before the Global Compact for Migration Review Forum in New York, focusing on regular migration pathways and cross-border cooperation. This reflects a desire to transform migration from a security crisis into a development tool with regular employment, labor mobility, remittances.

However, this flowery language and carefully chosen rhetoric, such as issuing the Cairo Declaration as a joint statement emphasizing support for regular migration pathways, respect for migrants’ rights, and support for voluntary, dignified return and reintegration, while preserving national sovereignty and local specificities, expanding employment opportunities and safe mobility, strengthening cross-border cooperation, and combating trafficking and smuggling networks—all this flowery language is an escape from confronting reality and the responsibility for solving migration problems. These problems, in reality, fall into two main categories: first, migration driven by security, political, humanitarian, and military motives, as seen in the migration of Sudanese to Egypt and Palestinians to various parts of the world. Due to political situations and military conflicts, people are forced to flee death under bombardment and amidst ongoing fighting between rival factions, seeking to save their lives and preserve their dignity and honor. A second reason is migration to find a decent life, escaping poverty despite their countries’ considerable wealth, and searching for a future for unemployed youth in developing countries, including African nations. Migration has become the primary option for building a future for young generations; for example, the percentage of younger people wishing to migrate from Tunisia to Europe and the West has exceeded 65%.

Looking at the plight of migrants of both kinds—those fleeing for their lives and those seeking a dignified existence—one finds that the root cause of migration and the suffering that follows is the existing regimes in the Third World and the countries that receive them. Political corruption and the failure to care for the people in these countries are what drive these wandering souls to leave their homelands. The same applies to political and military conflicts, such as the migration of the people of the Blessed Land of Palestine from their homes, fleeing for their lives and seeking the security they lack due to the Jewish entity and its policy of ethnic cleansing against them, in addition to the policy of forced displacement implemented through restrictions on their livelihoods and security. The same can be said of the situation in Sudan, where factions within the Rapid Support Forces and the army fight amongst themselves, deliberately targeting civilians, which forces them to migrate and become displaced. The cause of migration, therefore, is the regimes, not the people's desire to leave their familiar homelands.

The second reason for the suffering of migrants and the violation of their rights lies with the countries to which people migrate, in search of safety or a decent life. These countries fall into two categories: failed states that do not provide migrants with a decent life, such as Third World countries, like the migration of Sudanese to Egypt, Burmese to Bangladesh, and Palestinians to neighboring countries. These failed states do not even provide a decent life for their own citizens, so how can they be expected to care for refugees who come to them against their will? The second category is Western countries. These countries deal with migrants using the same old policies of slavery and subjugation, but in a modern way! In addition to the racism they practice against all races, despite feeding off the abundant resources of Third World countries, these countries only accept migrants who possess the skills, energy, and intellectual capacity they need, especially since they suffer from a severe birth rate deficit. Therefore, these countries do not accept any immigrant who does not serve their interests and address their acute labor shortages. Any immigrants beyond these shortages are treated as a burden that necessitates their expulsion, even if it means sinking the ships and fishing boats that immigrants board, in their desperate attempt to escape the scorching heat of their homelands for the blazing fires of the West, or building towering walls separating them from neighboring countries, such as the “great wall” of the United States separating it from Mexico, and pursuing and expelling refugees within its borders.

No state in history has preserved the rights of immigrants as the Islamic state did throughout the centuries during which it ruled over most of the world. Shariah law granted immigrants the right of neighborliness, a share of the funds of the state, and the right to reside and live among Muslims, whether they were Muslim, non-Muslim treaty-holder (معاهد mu'aahid), or protected citizen (ذمي dhimmi). As for the Muslim, all Islamic lands are his homeland; he may move freely among them and live wherever he finds comfort, not as a guest, an immigrant, or a refugee, but as a resident and a citizen of the land. A prime example of this is the document of brotherhood established by the Prophet (saw) between the Muhajireen and the Ansar, which stated,

«هَذَا كِتَابٌ مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ (رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ) بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمِينَ، مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ وَأَهْلِ يَثْرِبَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ فَلَحِقَ بِهِمْ، فَحَلَّ مَعَهُمْ وَجَاهَدَ مَعَهُمْ: أَنَّهُمْ أُمَّةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ دُونَ النَّاسِ»

“This is a document from Muhammad the Prophet (the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him) between the believers and Muslims, from Quraysh and the people of Yathrib and those who followed them and joined them, and settled with them and fought with them: that they are one community to the exclusion of other people.” If he were a treaty-holder (معاهد mu'aahid) or protected citizen (ذمي dhimmi), Allah (swt) said concerning them,

[وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ]

“And if any one of the disbelievers seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the word of Allah. Then escort him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.”  [TMQ Surah At-Tawbah: 6]. Thus, ruling according to all that Allah (swt) has revealed under the Khilafah (Caliphate) is what preserves a safe haven for the vulnerable among the migrants and refugees. Therefore, it is incumbent upon everyone who considers migrating from their country to understand the true nature of the states and systems in the West, and not to imagine them as Allah’s Paradise on earth. Instead, they are colonialist states that feed on the subjugation of weak nations and the enslavement of their people. Instead of contemplating migration, the migrants must direct their anger at the existing systems in their own countries, uprooting them and replacing them with a system that preserves their dignity in their homelands and guarantees them a decent life, utilizing the abundant resources Allah (swt) has bestowed upon their lands.

* Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Egypt