Between a rock and a hard place: why Africans migrate (original) (raw)

AI-generated Abstract

Migration from Africa is often misrepresented by alarmist media and policymakers as a mass exodus towards Europe. This report reveals that the dynamics of African migration are complex and multifaceted, with many Africans choosing to migrate for various reasons beyond poverty, such as economic growth and political stability. Instead of their migration being exceptional, it mirrors global patterns, with a significant number of migrants moving within their own sub-regions due to high costs of long-distance migration. The report emphasizes the need for a nuanced understanding of migration drivers, challenging oversimplified narratives and calls for informed policy responses that consider the complexities of migration flows.

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Understanding the Nature of Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has a long history of internal and international migration. In 2015, UNDESA estimated that about 33 million of Africans were living outside their country of nationality, representing 14% of international migrants worldwide. These numbers mask substantial differences between migration flows originating from North Africa and SSA. While in the first case the great majority of migrants cross the continental borders to reach Europe, people in SSA tend to move mostly to neighbouring countries or within the region. While African overseas migration makes the breaking news and generate heated discussions worldwide, yet a stubborn reality is that SSA migration mostly takes place within Africa and is likely to remain as such in the future. SSA is « in motion», but mainly within the limits of the continent.

New questions for innovative migration research

Over the past 15 years, African migration has become a hot topic for debate and research in Europe as well as in Africa. However, this interest has remained largely limited to the northbound migration flows originating from sub-Saharan Africa, either towards the Maghreb countries or, through them, towards Europe.

Drivers of migration: why do people move?

Journal of travel medicine, 2018

More than 244 million international migrants were estimated to live in a foreign country in 2015, leaving apart the massive number of people that have been relocated in their own country. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of international migrants from southern countries do not reach western nations but resettle in neighbouring low-income countries in the same geographical area. Migration is a complex phenomenon, where 'macro'-, 'meso'- and 'micro'-factors act together to inform the final individual decision to migrate, integrating the simpler previous push-pull theory.Among the 'macro-factors', the political, demographic, socio-economic and environmental situations are major contributors to migration. These are the main drivers of forced migration, either international or internal, and largely out of individuals' control.Among the 'meso-factors', communication technology, land grabbing and diasporic links play an important role. In pa...

Migration comes of age

The Age of Migration has been uniquely successful as a student text on international migration, not only filling a niche but defining the field. This review article documents the evolution of the five editions of the book in terms of its core structure and enlarging scope. In a more critical vein, I note some omissions and potential shortcomings, while acknowledging the subjectivity of my perspective. More attention could have been given to the mobilities paradigm, transnationalism, internal and return migration, and quantitative analyses. Nevertheless, this book has done more than any other to ensure that the academic study of migration now occupies a central place in the social sciences.

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How Does Migration Arise?

McAuliffe, M. and M. Klein Solomon (eds) Ideas to Inform International Cooperation on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Geneva: IOM., 2017