Migration Management and Responsibility Sharing with Afghanistan Through EU Funding?

This paper analyses EU migration funding aimed at supporting responsibility sharing towards Afghanistan. The analysis combines desk research with original empirical qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews from various actors. The findings reveal a top-down design for EU migration funding programmes towards Afghanistan, with very few Afghan actors involved to a limited extent in project design. In addition, EU funding for national and regional projects pursues migration management objectives, thus prioritising EU interests over the needs of Afghan migrants and the context of Afghanistan. The results also illustrate that funding is essential but insufficient for enhancing responsibility sharing.