Disentangling Mining and Migratory Routes in West Africa: Decisions to Move in Migranticised Settings

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the trajectories of African men whose cross-border movements intersect two types of mobility routes: mining and migration routes. Drawing on field research in Mali and Guinea, as well as phone interviews with male miners/migrants in North Africa and Europe, this article provides a case to empirically question some of the premises in the approach to migration decision-making by giving a voice to African men moving across borders who do not necessarily identify as (prospective) ‘migrants.’ Building upon International Organization for Migration data and secondary sources, this article starts by sketching where migration and mining routes overlap. It then examines, in detail, the mobility trajectories of men who were sometimes considered migrants and other times miners in order to identify how these different routes relate to one another. While overseas migration is certainly not a common project for itinerant miners, the gold mines constitute a transnational space that fosters the expansion of movements across the continent, including outside the field of mining. Rather than encouraging overseas migration, gold mines appear to be more of a safety net, not only for seasonal farmers or young people in search of money and adventure, but also, increasingly, for people who are confronted with Europe’s intra-African deportation regime.

Counter moves. Destabilizing the grand narrative of onward migration and secondary movements in Europe

“…When I take a bird's eye view on all the intra-European trajectories I came across, I might distinguish three main patterns: relocations (as a move whereby the place of residence shifts to a new place), circulations (as a form of continuity between multiple places of residence) and explorations (as a flexible type of move in which possible places to live are screened). These patterns can be identified for specific episodes of people's trajectories, but in a wider spatio-temporal framework they are characterized by vague boundaries and intersections (Bolay, 2021). For example, after a typical relocation, people may involve in new explorations, or vice versa, multiple explorations may feed a residential relocation.…”

“…From there we delve into the question of how specific notions of onward migration are anchored in, and reproduced by, dominant migration policy frameworks. This step is vitally important in order to realize how mobility is turned into migration of some sort (Amelina, 2017; Bolay, 2021; Dahinden, 2016). From there, I present some dynamic im/mobility trajectories of Africans living in Europe.…”

What is the nexus between migration and mobility? A framework to understand the interplay between different ideal types of human movement

“…These forms of enablement between migration and mobility categories clearly intersect with social inequalities: not every migrant can mobilise past experiences to the same effect (Bolay, 2021;Nshimbi, 2021), and being a citizen of some countries can limit one's possibilities to move legally (Mau, 2010). Using the lenses of the MMN, we can better understand the interplay between regulations and the subjective dimension of being on the move.…”

The ‘open cut’ in drylands

“…Then it is transported to Kidal, where several cyanideprocessing plants were set up (Bolay 2021a) in a similar way to what Afane and Gagnol (2021) describe for the sites surrounding Agadez and Arlit in Niger. In these areas that constitute important transit points for aspiring migrants to North Africa or Europe, increasing numbers of impoverished irregular migrants deported from Algeria and Libya may also turn to mining, which sometimes constitutes a temporary safety net (Bolay 2021b).…”