CALL FOR A PEOPLE’S SUMMIT ON MARITIME SECURITY AND THE PROTECTION OF MIGRANTS ON THE SEAS AND OCEANS OF AFRICA

 « For the protection of everyone on the seas and oceans of Africa »

Lomé, the Togolese capital, is actively preparing to host an extraordinary summit of African heads of state on maritime security and development in Africa from the 2^nd to the 7^th November 2015.  The idea for this extraordinary summit was adopted by the leaders of the African states during the 23^rd Summit of the African Union held in Malabo in June 2014.  It will bring together heads of state, heads of government, ministers, experts and international organisations (European Union, UN…) to discuss issues related to regional and international cooperation for maritime security and development in Africa.   Faced with an upsurge in acts of piracy against merchant shipping and oil rigs off the coasts of Africa, and the lack of an African charter on maritime security, the African Union considers this summit to be a matter of urgency.  The Lomé summit, therefore, aims to provide Africa with its own charter so that it is no longer obliged to follow the dictates of the Europeans and Americans who, until now, have determined the security strategies for the seas and oceans of Africa, rather than the Africans themselves: patrolling the African coasts in the Mediterranean through Frontex, deploying the Corymbe naval mission in the Gulf of Guinea and Operation Atalanta in the Gulf of Aden. (suite…)