Professor Aly Tandian will give the Inauguration Conference of the First Forum on Migration Processes
A Senegalese Sociologue, Professor Aly Tandian, director of the Investigation and Study Lab for Migrations and Social Facts (GERM), from the Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis University (UGB), and president of the Senegalese Observatory for Migrations, will pronounce the inauguration conference of the First Regional Forum on Migration Processes. His presentation, titled “The role of territorial collectivities in the fight against irregular migration”, will analyse the fundamental role of subnational authorities in the management of irregular migration and the opportunities that they can generate for territorial and social development.
Professor Tandian argues that migration must not be considered exclusively as a problem, but also as an opportunity for personal, community and economic development. According to him, an efficient management of migration must combine prevention and protection policies with measures that encourage integration, active participation, and training and professional opportunities. In addition to this, he criticizes symbolic solutions and slogans with no meaning, emphasising the importance of developing realistic, inclusive and sustainable migration policies, while taking into account sending, transit and recepting regions.
The Forum will take place in Dakar (Senegal) from the 1st to the 3rd December 2025, and it will be organised by ORU Fogar and the Departmental Association of Senegal. This international meeting will group together different regions - sending, transit and receptor regions - to share experiences, identify good practices and elaborate common strategies for a more humane and effective management of migration. Participants will have the opportunity of debating and exchanging views on the challenges and opportunities that migration processes present at a regional scale. Inscriptions are open on the official website.
Trusting in Aly Tandian’s inaugural session, ORU Fogar and ADS intend to present as a starting point an African viewpoint. If the organisation decided to open the session with this intervention, it is because they consider that the Professor is one of the African scholars that has reflected the most on these areas. According to ORU Fogar and the ADS, listening to Tandian allows to establish a solid departure point for all following discussions, easing the exchange of deeper and contrasted ideas. The initiative pretends to favour an active and plural debate, where other participant’s opinions may be contested with their own, generating more complex reflections on political, social and economic challenges of the region. With this strategy, they reaffirm their commitment, placing African knowledge and experiences in the centre of international dialogue.
