The Government of Spain signs agreements with Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal to reinforce safe and regular migration channels and protect workers' rights

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, and her counterpart from the Republic of Senegal, during the signing of bilateral agreements (Pool Moncloa / Fernando Calvo)

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, recalled "the importance of strengthening collaboration with friendly countries such as Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal, with whom we have a long-standing relationship of cooperation and friendly relations". This was the minister's statement at the end of a three-day trip to these countries, during which she accompanied the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and in which saw the signing of three memorandums of understanding on circular migration, which will lead to the development of programmes to select workers in the source countries.

The agenda of the trip included meetings with Presidents Mohmed Cheikh El Ghazouani (Islamic Republic of Mauritania), Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Republic of Senegal) and Adama Barrow, (Republic of The Gambia). In addition, the Spanish delegation visited the Cervantes Institute and the patrol boat donated to the Gambian government, where they met the contingent of the Guardia Civil and the National Police stationed in the country.

Minister Saiz expressed Spain's commitment to advancing safe migration channels while, at the same time, pursuing mafias and prosecuting human trafficking crimes. In this respect, she stressed that "circular migration programmes are a win-win for all parties involved. They are an extraordinary example of our migration policies: we procure the labour we need, we protect workers' rights, and we facilitate the return of these people to their countries of origin, with the benefits that this can also bring to the development of their communities.

"I would like to thank the Mauritanian, Gambian and Senegalese authorities for their welcome and their willingness to work collaboratively on migration policy issues that affect us all," said Saiz.

Memoranda of Understanding

The purpose of the Memoranda of Understanding that have been signed is to establish a framework for cooperation to address issues of common interest and concern in the field of migration. They propose implementing programmes to recruit workers in their countries of origin for fixed-term jobs. Once this work is completed in Spain, they can return to their communities.

Thanks to the reform of the regulation on foreigners, the circular migration procedures under which such programmes are registered have been simplified. They can grant people a four-year permit to work for a maximum of nine months per year on a fixed-term contract. This allows them to travel to Spain every year to work, and to return to their country of origin after that period with guarantees set out in their contract that they will be called up again for the following season. Before the reform, these projects had to be processed every year, and now they are processed once every four years, significantly reducing all the administrative burdens for companies and for migrant workers.

The Directorate General of Migration Management of the Ministry of Inclusion will work with the respective departments of Work, Migration and Social Security of the embassies in Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal to provide them with generic job offers to which these countries can respond. This communication will include the definition of the professional profile requested and the working conditions offered and will establish the minimum number of candidates to be pre-selected.

Once the local authorities communicate the existence or not of candidates in sufficient numbers and meeting the requested professional profile, a pre-selection system of candidates would be carried out. Workers shall be informed of the temporary nature of the authorisation granted and shall formally undertake to return to their country of origin at the end of the employment contract.

Mauritania: regular migratory mobility

Around 10,000 Mauritanians live in Spain, and Mauritania is an important trading partner for Spain in the region. A total of 440 Spanish companies regularly export to Mauritania and 101 Mauritanian companies regularly export to Spain.

Diplomatic relations with Mauritania have traditionally focused on fisheries and development cooperation, but the agenda has been progressively broadened to include the fight against mafias profiting from irregular migration, terrorism and organised crime, investment promotion and defence cooperation.

In addition, the Mauritanian government has on many occasions expressed its willingness to make progress in the area of migratory mobility, in particular on circular migration, to send a message to young people who risk their lives at sea that there is another way to migrate that is orderly, safe and legal.

"The joint declaration adopted on this trip is a clear sign of the good moment in our relations," explained the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, after his meeting with the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazuani, in Nouakchott. The document covers a wide range of matters of common interest, such as business development, the promotion of cultural relations, the strengthening of cooperation on security issues, and, in particular, the shared and orderly management of the migratory phenomenon, among others.

Senegal: a decades-long relationship

Spain and Senegal have a long-standing relationship of cooperation and friendly relations that both states consider important to intensify. The signing of the Memorandum is part of the intense relations that have existed for decades and which deepened since 2000, when a major migratory flow from Senegal to Spain developed.

There are currently 52,300 Senegalese people registered with the Social Security in Spain.

In 2020, Spain and Senegal signed a Bilateral Social Security Agreement that allows workers who have developed their careers in both countries to add their contribution periods in both countries in order to be entitled to a future Social Security benefit. At the same time, the agreement establishes rules that favour business investment by giving more legal certainty to posted workers who want to continue in the social security system of the country where they were hired, without having to register in the system of the country to which they move. It also provides for administrative cooperation between the bodies managing social security in order to facilitate procedures for the citizens concerned and reduce bureaucracy.

The Gambia: reintegration and opportunity at home

Bilateral political relations with The Gambia have intensified since the 2006 migration crisis, when a series of high-level visits were initiated. At that time, the foundations were laid for a relationship that, with cooperation in the fight against illegal migration as its epicentre, has gradually expanded to other areas, such as the recent Memorandum.

Diplomatic relations between Spain and The Gambia have so far been characterised by a focus on bilateral migration cooperation, with specific agreements aimed at the reintegration of returned migrants and the creation of local economic opportunities. The Memorandum of Understanding is a further step in this direction.

In Spain there are 16,370 workers from The Gambia and the number of Spaniards in the African country is 1,330.

Non official translation