1. International Migration and African Development
January 25, 2015
Reading: LRS Chapter 21

2. Human Migrations since 120,000 BC

3. Agenda Varieties of Migrants 4. Remittances
Central Features of African international migration
Refugee Flows
Intra-continental migration and continental emigration
Immigration into Africa
3. Gains and Losses; Who Wins, Who Loses, How and Why?
Private and Social cost-benefit analyses
The Migrants
The Receiving Country
The Home or Sending Country
4. Remittances
5. Brain Drain and Brain Gain
6. Diaspora Communities contributions to countries of origin
7. Policies: for Countries of Origin and Receiving Countries

4. Varieties of International Migrants
Economic Migrants
Family Reunification
Refugee Movements
“Study-Abroad” Migration
International Adoptions
Illegal Migration; Trafficking in People
Retirement Migration
Temporary or Circulatory Migration
“Reverse Migration”
“Pseudo Migration”

5. Africa’s International Migratory Flows: Driving Forces and Character
Africa’s International Migratory Flows: Driving Forces and Character Why do people migrate from one country to another?

6. Africa’s International Migratory Flows: Driving Forces and Character
Africa’s International Migratory Flows: Driving Forces and Character Why do people migrate from one country to another?
Economic factors: higher incomes and all the factors that affect this.
Unemployment, low incomes in the home country; opportunity oin the recipient country. (Push and Pull factors)
Demographic pressures;
Environmental factors: land degradation; climate change
Poverty? Yes. But….
People also emigrate when they are better educated, more knowledgeable of the outside world and not necessarily the poorest.
Sociological factors:
family reunification;
Family, kinship and community networks
Political: civil war, human rights issues, persecution
Other:
Thirst for adventure, a desire to explore and learn about other parts of the world,
Desire to escape the confines of one country and perhaps parental and community authority and influence
Immigration policies of the recipient countries

7. Some Definitions regarding International Migration
International Migration: any movement voluntary or involuntary by people across an international border in order to reestablish their home in another country.
Diaspora: the populations or communities of significant numbers migrants from a country’s, dispersed among other countries..
Irregular, Informal, or Extra-legal migrants: those who migrate to another country without the necessary permissions from the host country.
Economic migrants: those who migrate for economic reasons such as seeking work or to start an enterprise.
Asylum seeker: a person who seeks safety from persecution or serious harm in another country than the original home country and is trying to obtain the status of a refugee.
Refugee: a person who leaves the home country and enters another country to avoid armed conflict and for fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions.­­­­­­­­­­
Forced Migration: in a broader sense, this includes not only refugees and asylum seekers from armed conflict or persecution but also people forced to move within a state or across borders due to factors such as environmental catastrophes.
Human Smuggling: The illegal activities of persons or criminal organizations that undertake the voluntary movement of groups of individuals across borders for monetary compensation.
Human Trafficking: The involuntary entrapment of people who are then sold within a country or who are illegally transferred to other countries.

8. Central facts re African International Migration I.
Total international stock of emigrants from the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa: million in 2013 or about 2.5% of its population;
65.6% had emigrated to other African countries,
31.1% to high income countries and
2.9% to other developing countries with 0.4% undetermined
Major sources: Somalia, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sudan.

9. Central facts re African International Migration II.
Predominance of intra-continental migration:
Stock of immigrants in all Sub-Saharan African countries:
18 million or 1.9% of Africa’s total population in 2013.
84.6% migrated from one African country to another,
4.9% came from high income countries,
2.2% from developing countries outside of Africa, and
8.2% were “unidentified.”
Recipient countries within Africa were South Africa, Cote’d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Kenya. Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.

12. Migration into Africa

14. Migration, Africa and Middle East to Europe, 2015

16. Source: International Organization for Migration, 2015

17. Who Wins, Who Loses, How and Why?
Gains and Losses;
Who Wins, Who Loses, How and Why?
The relevance of private and social cost benefit analysis
The Migrants Perspective
The Receiving Country’s Perspective
The Home or Sending Country’s Perspective

19. Potential Benefits to Source Countries from African Diasporas in High Income Countries

20. Potential Benefits to Source Countries from African Diasporas in High Income Countries
Remittances.
Diaspora “demonstration or incentive effects”.
Diaspora philanthropy. “e.g.: Association for Higher Education and Development (AHEAD), an Ethiopian-Canadian organization supporting higher education in Ethiopia.
Diaspora investment.
Diaspora networks. Emigrants could establish business or professional networks to strengthen the relevant activities in the old home country.
Diaspora emergency support.
Diaspora “nostalgia trade”.
Diaspora tourism.
Diaspora return migration; “circular” migration. In other words, at least part of the “brain drain” can be transformed into “brain circulation” or “brain return.”
Countries can actively recruit emigrants from their diasporas for employment in order to encourage return migration and “brain gain.”
Diaspora retirement.

24. Relevant Policies for Countries of Origin
Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
“(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

25. Relevant Policies for Countries of Origin to discourage emigration of more internationally-mobile citizens.
Maintain political stability and full respect for human rights;
Promote broad-based development to reduce the incentive to leave;
Modify salary structures to provide higher compensation and a reduced incentive for professionals to emigrate (???)
– but the possibility to implement this is weak in a poor country and it would worsen income distribution;
Require emigrants to compensate the source country for some of the costs of their education (??)
Require emigrants in some professions to undertake “national service” in their professional areas if they are intending to emigrate.

26. For the high income migrant-receiving country:
Ensure that the national educational system produces enough professionals to effectively staff the medical, educational and administrative systems.
Ensure that there is no “poaching” of highly educated people from low- income countries.
Provide implicit compensation to source countries through development assistance.