EU migration governance in Central Asia : everybody’s business – nobody’s business?

Abstract

The EU has been involved in various migration governance initiatives in Central Asia with ambiguous impact. Among the reasons given to account for EU external governance failures in Central Asia figure poor EU local expertise , “awkwardness” of states in the region, low level of regional cooperation and high conflict potential among Central Asian states. This article identifies previously neglected challenges for EU migration governance in Central Asia due to the nature of international governors present in the field and to the character of relationships between them: strategic – the lack of donors’ coordination, and operational – limited coordination and often open competition between implementing partners. The article concludes by arguing that current EU actions in this field form a set of disparate initiatives that do not amount to a comprehensive policy seeking to impact migration in Central Asia but rather strive to broaden and strengthen EU presence in the region.