Having gotten the clarity it sought on areas of concern, Guyana says that it will now sign on to the Samoa Agreement – successor to the Cotonou Agreement that the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (OACPS) has with the European Union (EU) and which is the overarching framework for relations with the EU and its member countries.
“We have been able to, the technical teams that is, sort out the [areas of concern] of the agreement. We had a few areas to clarify. So the technical teams have worked that out already for us… and definitely we would be signing,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd told the Sunday Stabroek on Thursday, when asked for an update on the matter.
“The technical officials had been engaging on the areas we would have flagged for our interests. They have worked that out,” he added.
The absence of Guy-ana’s signature had raised concerns at various level in Georgetown as over 60 countries have already signed on
On November 15, 2023, the EU and its member states signed the new partnership agreement in the Polynesian island country of Samoa. Guyana withheld signing on because of what it said were a number of concerns. One source had told this newspaper that Guyana was trying to get an “interpretative statement to show Guyana’s position” before signing. It is unclear if these matters were raised in the several years of negotiations that preceded the signing in November last year.
A source had said that Guyana is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and it believes that a part of the Samoa Agreement has clauses which reference this. “We are not signatory to the UN convention on refugees. It has all sorts of https://www.oacps.org/obligations. Clause 76 speaks to the treatment of migrants… and that has been an argument,” that source had stated.
With around 30,000 to 40,000 Venezuelans having arrived here over the last seven or eight years, the government had concerns about a possible impact in this area.
“Article 13 of the Cotonou Agreement provides for dialogue and cooperation in the matters of both legal and illegal migration, including return and readmission, but does not clearly provide for enforcement and sanctions”, according to the European Parliament.
“Title VI of the future OACPS-EU agreement (Samoa) will go far beyond Cotonou in this matter. This title provides for a comprehensive, coherent, pragmatic and balanced approach, in full respect of international law, including international human rights law and, when applicable, international refugee law and international humanitarian law, but does not explicitly mention the UN Global Compacts on mi-gration and on refugees,” a briefing from the EU Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) states.
“The parties commit to fair treatment and non-discrimination of legal migrants and ‘shall pursue efforts to adopt effective integration policies’ towards them (Article 64). The negotiated agreement mentions cooperation to reduce the transaction costs of remittances, the need to facilitate circular migration, and the ‘relevance’ of South-South migration, but is not very detailed in this regard. The Africa protocol, title VI, includes further commitments on facilitating legal migration and mobility, encouraging diaspora investment and remittances, and supporting intra-African cooperation on migration,” it added.
Of note was that provisions on legal migration were contested by some EU Member States, notably Hungary.
With regard to irregular migration, the OACPS negotiating terms envisaged that returns should be carried out on a voluntary basis, the brief highlighted, but the EU, to the contrary, wished to introduce a more binding legal obligation to re-admit irregular migrants.
“The EU was successful in this regard, as the negotiated agreement – in line with the new EU migration pact and the new EU strategy on voluntary return and reintegration – underlines the right of any EU or OACPS country to return any irregularly staying third-country national to their country of origin, and the obligation for any EU or OACPS country to accept the return and readmission of their nationals. However, the negotiated agreement does not address the return of irregular migrants to a country of which they are not nationals, even when they had departed from that country (transit country), this will therefore have to be addressed by specific readmission agreements,” the document explained.
Last month, following a press conference, EU Ambassador René van Nes held with local media, a press release was dispatched which highlighted that the EU and Guyana had talks and that the Samoa Agreement was discussed. The statement did not go into detail.
“Aligned with the Dialogue’s objective of exchanging information and fostering mutual understanding, both sides engaged in open and constructive discussions on areas of common interest at bilateral, regional and international level, including on new challenges in international settings. They reaffirmed their commitment to the continuation and further enhancement of collaboration between Guyana and the European Union,” it said.
The joint statement said, “Both sides acknowledged the transition from the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, which ended on 31 December 2023, and discussed Guyana’s accession to its successor – the Samoa Agreement.”
Further, it pointed out that “Minister Hugh Todd underscored the importance of the relationship between the European Union and Guyana and reiterated Guyana’s unwavering commitment to enhancing collaboration in the areas of climate change, energy, security, people-to-people ties, and trade. He also noted the European Union’s pivotal role as a key developmental partner for Guyana.”
At the press conference, the EU Ambassador had expressed optimism that this country’s signature will be added as it sought answers to concerns before ratification.
“At this moment, 64 countries have signed. Until now Guyana has not yet done that but we have very positive indications that Guyana will favourably sign,” he said.
“They had some concerns, and it is good that they take their time and look at that and they sign things only when they are comfortable. So we are talking about those issues that they would like clarified. And I am quite positive that that indeed will lead into a signature of Guyana,” he added.
At a time when Guyana needs the support of many global partners to rally behind it, in the face of heightened Venezuelan aggression and the border controversy matter which is before the International Court of Justice, this country said that it wants especially, the issue of the treatment of migrants cleared before joining the 79-member-country agreement.
The Cotonou Agreement was due to expire on 29 February, 2020, but it was extended temporarily to no later than 31 October, 2023, pending adoption of a new agreement.
“The multiple negotiation levels, the coronavirus crisis, and difficulties in reaching agreement on sensitive issues, such as migration management and sexual and reproductive health and rights, prevented the new agreement from being finalised by the initial expiry date set in the Cotonou Agreement,” the EU Parliament said on its website.
“… The Samoa Agreement is based on six key priorities: human rights, democracy and governance; peace and security; human and social development; inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development; environmental sustainability and climate change; and migration and mobility. The EU and the OACPS agreed on the principle of a common foundation complemented by three regional protocols for African, Caribbean, and Pacific OACPS members respectively,” it adds.
“It took more than two years of negotiations before the text of a renewed partnership agreement was initialled in April 2021, and two more years for the EU Member States to resolve dissenting views before signing,” the EU stated.
It explained that the future agreement would have been provisionally applied from January of this year, and further legal procedures will be required before it can enter fully into force, notably ratification by at least two-thirds (53) of OACPS members.
Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister has assured that this country’s signature would be added to the 64 countries that are there. He pointed out that a date had been set but at the time could not off-hand remember. However, he made clear that “definitely when we meet, that signing would occur.”
Last November, the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen had discussed the ramifications of not signing the Samoa Agreement. This was in response to questions from the media following the signing of the new agreement. Countries that didn’t sign by the end of last December faced the prospect of missing out on accessing funding from the European Investment Bank.
On 15 November 2023 the partnership between the European Union (EU) and its 27 Member States, and the 79 Member States of the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) was solidified with the signing of the Samoa Agreement in Apia, Samoa. The historic signing ceremony a first to be held in the Pacific, was attended by more than 250 delegates from across the four continents. (https://www.oacps.org/)
