This paper uses recent longitudinal data collected within the Migration between Africa and Europe (MAFE) project to investigate gender differences in the role of migrant networks in international mobility. Furthermore, we compare Congolese and Senegalese migration streams to examine how the interplay between gender and networks varies across contexts of origin. We go beyond previous studies by considering the case of spousal reunification alongside other forms of migration: we separate the role of the migrant spouse from other network ties, as failing to do so overestimates the role of migrant networks in female mobility. We further find that Senegalese women are more likely than men to rely on geographically concentrated networks, composed of close kin and established abroad for a long time. Gender differences are much less pronounced in the Congolese case, which we relate to the more rigid patriarchal norms in Senegal, restricting female autonomy both in terms of mobility and economic activity.
This paper focuses on the heterogeneity of female mobility and investigates whether human and social capital play different roles in women's independent versus spousal reunification migration. Using longitudinal data from a recent survey on migration between Africa and Europe, we compare the drivers of mobility of Congolese and Senegalese women. Based on discrete-time hazard models, we find that education and access to migrant networks are especially important in the likelihood of moving independently of a partner. Furthermore, different types of ties (excluding the migrant partner) are influential in the two forms of mobility. Female networks play a crucial role in independent migration but are less instrumental in triggering reunification. The differences between the two types of moves are however, more accentuated in Senegal than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We relate this to the more rigid patriarchal norms restricting female autonomy in Senegal, both in terms of mobility and economic activity.
Résumé
Aujourd’hui plus qu’hier, présenter des chiffres clairs sur l’immigration constitue une nécessité, mais également un défi. Cet article tente de démêler quelques chiffres-clés pour apporter un éclairage sur les flux récents d’immigration et d’asile en Belgique. Ces dernières années, le nombre d’entrées d’étrangers a atteint un niveau historiquement élevé. En 2017, près de 140 000 immigrations internationales ont été enregistrées. Les citoyens de l’UE représentent plus de la moitié de ces immigrations. Derrière une tendance migratoire globalement en hausse depuis la fin des années 1990, des logiques migratoires assez contrastées peuvent être dégagées. Depuis 2014 par exemple, les Français se font devancer par les Roumains dans les immigrations étrangères vers la Belgique, depuis lors en tête de classement. Depuis plus de cinquante ans l’immigration marocaine figure parmi les principaux flux d’immigration, mais cette migration ancienne est freinée récemment par un regroupement familial rendu plus difficile. Les immigrations de Syriens enregistrées en Belgique ont par contre fortement augmenté, plaçant la Syrie dans le top cinq des pays d’origine des immigrants en 2016 et 2017.
Abstract
Today more than yesterday, presenting clear immigration Figures is a necessity, but also a challenge. This article aims to unravel some key Figures to shed light on recent immigration and asylum flows in Belgium. In recent years, the number of entries of foreigners in Belgium has reached a historically high level. In 2017, nearly 140,000 international immigrants were registered. EU citizens accounted for more than half of these immigrants. Behind a migration trend that has been on the rise since the end of the 1990s, contrasting migratory patterns can be identified. Since 2014, for example, the French have been more numerous than Romanians among foreign immigrants to Belgium and have been at the top of the list ever since. For more than fifty years Moroccan immigration has been one of the main immigration flows, but this long‐standing migration has recently been slowed down by family reunification, which has become more difficult. Registered Syrian immigration to Belgium has risen sharply, placing Syria in the top five countries of origin of immigrants in 2016 and 2017.
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