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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:41 am
Time: 11:41 am
Results for illegal immigrants (west africa and europe)
1 results foundAuthor: Haas, Hein de Title: Irregular Migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union: An Overview of Recent Trends Summary: Media and dominant policy discourses convey an apocalyptic image of an increasingly massive exodus of desperate Africans fleeing poverty and war at home trying to enter the elusive European “El Dorado” crammed in long-worn ships barely staying afloat (Pastore et al., 2006). The migrants themselves are commonly depicted as victims recruited by “merciless” and “unscrupulous” traffickers and smugglers. Hence, the perceived policy solutions—which invariably boil down to curbing migration—focus on “fighting” or “combating” illegal migration through intensifying border controls and cracking down trafficking and smuggling-related crime. Although there has been an incontestable increase in regular and irregular West African migration to Europe over the past decade, available empirical evidence dispels most of these assumptions. First, irregular migration from Africa to Europe is not as new as is commonly suggested. Illegal sea crossings of the Mediterranean by North Africans have in fact been a persistent phenomenon since Italy and Spain introduced visa requirements in the early 1990s. The major change has been that, in particular, since 2000, sub-Saharan Africans have started to join and have now overtaken North Africans as the largest category of irregular boat migrants. Second, it is a misconception that all or most migrants crossing the Sahara are “in transit” to Europe. There are possibly more sub-Saharan Africans living in the Maghreb than in Europe. An estimated 65,000 and 120,000 sub-Saharan Africans enter the Maghreb yearly overland, of which only 20 to 38 per cent are estimated to enter Europe. While Libya is an important destination country in its own right, many migrants failing or not venturing to enter Europe prefer to stay in North Africa as a second-best option. Third, the majority of West Africans enter Europe legally. In recent years, the total annual increase of the registered West African population in the EU has been around 100,000. The total number of successful irregular crossings by sub-Saharan Africans should be counted in the order of several tens of thousands, according to our estimates 25,000 to 35,000 per year, which is only a fraction of total EU immigration of 2.6 million in 2004. The majority of migrants enter Europe legally and subsequently overstay their visas. Fourth, despite a recent increase, West African migration to the EU is still relatively modest in comparison with migration from North Africa and Eastern Europe. There are an estimated 800,000 registered West African migrants in the main European receiving countries compared to 2,600,000 North Africans. Moroccan immigrants alone outnumber all West African immigrants in Europe. Rather than a desperate response to destitution, migration is generally a conscious choice by relatively well-off individuals and households to enhance their livelihoods. Likewise, the common portrayal of irregular African migrants as victims of traffickers and smugglers is inconsistent with evidence that the vast majority of migrants move on their own initiative. Trafficking is relatively rare, and smugglers are usually not part of international organized crime but locally based passeurs operating alone or in small networks. Since the 1990s, European states intensified border controls and have attempted to “externalize” these policies by pressuring certain North African countries to clamp down on irregular migration and to sign readmission agreements in exchange for aid, financial support, and work permits. While failing to curb immigration, these policies have had a series of unintended side effects in the form of increasing violations of migrants’ rights and a diversification of trans-Saharan migration routes and attempted sea crossing points. In practice, it seems almost impossible to seal off the long Saharan borders and the African and European coastlines, if European and African governments are willing to do so. Notwithstanding public discourses stressing the need to “combat illegal immigration”, European and African states seem to have little genuine interest in stopping migration because their economies have become dependent on migrant labour and remittances, respectively. In fact, there is a growing discrepancy between restrictive migration policies and the demand for cheap migrant labour in Europe and Libya. Unless exceptional circumstance arise, it is therefore likely that migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and Europe will continue. This explains why increasing border controls have rather led to the swift diversion of migration routes and an increase in the risks, costs, and suffering of the migrants involved rather than a decline in migration. As long as no more legal channels for immigration are created to match the real demand for labour, and as long as large informal economies will exist, it is likely that a substantial proportion of this migration will remain irregular. Details: Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2008. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: IOM Migration Research Series, No. 32: Accessed May 4, 2012 at: http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/MRS-32_EN.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Africa URL: http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/published_docs/serial_publications/MRS-32_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 125157 Keywords: Border SecurityIllegal Immigrants (West Africa and Europe)Immigration |