The external dimension of the EU migration policy relies to a large extent on its development policy to foster ‘mutually beneficial partnerships’ between the EU and non-EU states. While political conditionality remains a fundamental axis of the EU’s external relations, a curious ‘twist’ of events has led to the emergence of ‘migration-based’ conditionality, especially in the aftermath of the 2015–2016 ‘migration crisis’. Conditionality can be broadly defined as the EU’s leverage of different instruments to lead non-EU states to comply with certain norms. In the context of the EU development policy, conditionality traditionally relates to human rights, democracy, and good governance. In the context of migration, however, these norms are mostly connected with the readmission of nationals. While migration-based conditionality might appear as a deviation from a more ‘righteous’ form of conditionality, this contribution argues that this is incorrect. Through a critical review of the EU development policy going back to its colonial roots, this chapter intends to show that migration-based conditionality stems from political conditionality and not that it strays from it. In doing so, it seeks to highlight how migration-based conditionality reflects a hierarchical access to mobility still rooted in colonial racism.