Issues and Recent Trends in International Migration in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract

Migration in Sub‐Saharan Africa features a variety of movements, mostly intraregional: migrant workers, undocumented migrants, nomads, frontier workers, refugees, and highly skilled professionals. Changing patterns and especially the increase in irregular migration, diversification of migratory routes and trafficking in migrants result from worsening socio‐economic and political conditions in the region. Sponsored, selective male migration and increasing female autonomous migration are manifestations of migration as survival strategies. Brain circulation within the region, especially to core areas of rapid economic growth, has intensified; increasingly, labour migration is being replaced by commercial migration. Migrants are also exploring alternative destinations within the region in response to the tightened immigration laws in the North. Rapid population growth, economic depression, conflicts, political instability, widespread poverty and deepening unemployment signal the possibility of increased migration, including refugee flows, in the coming years. Sub‐regional economic unions could help promote intra‐regional labour mobility if concerted efforts are made to harmonise national laws with regionaland sub‐regional treaties.

“We Are Working Hand to Mouth”: Zimbabwean Teachers’ Experiences of Vulnerability in South Africa

“…It has become popular as a receiving country for immigrant teachers in southern Africa (Brown, 2008). A major contribution to this trend in recent years has come from one of SA's neighbours, Zimbabwe (Chibaya, 2008;Mawadza, 2008), which is in keeping with the contention that teacher migration within Africa occurs among neighbouring countries (Adepoju, 2006). Interestingly, SA is not responsible for recruiting teachers from Zimbabwe.…”

“…From the late 1990s there has been a growing increase in migration of the highly skilled including teachers within and out of Africa (Adepoju, 2006;Nguyen, 2006). There is also a new trend adjunct to the historical trend, emerging in the context of SA, despite it being a developing country.…”

Migration, Remittances and Development: A case study of Senegalese labour migrants on the island Boa Vista, Cape Verde

“…As a consequence the archipelago became attractive as destination for migrants from other ECOWAS member states 11 , mainly from Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Nigeria since the beginning of the new millen- to migrate are shaped in (trans)local processes that concern people's ideas about the good and right life" (Åkesson, 2008, p. 269).The perception of migration as an important event in the life story is widespread in both Cape Verde (Åkesson, 2008;Carling & Åkesson, 2009) and Senegal (Riccio, 2005). An explanation of mi-9 The real GDP increased annually about 6.5 % between 2000(INE, 2014a. 10 Between 1999 and 2011 the number of touristic establishments increased from 79 to 195, the number of beds has more than quadrupled from 3.165 to 14.076 and the number of employees in the touristic sector increased from 1.516 to 5.178 (INE, 2014b Senegal (Land & Fourier, 2012, p. 42).…”

Migration, Social Demands and Environmental Change amongst the Frafra of Northern Ghana and the Biali in Northern Benin

“…Demographic dynamics in Ghana and Benin, like other West African countries, have been characterized by population movements since pre-colonial times [8][9][10]. While colonialism undoubtedly influenced migration patterns in both countries, more recently, global and internal political, economic and environmental dynamics have, to a larger extent, dictated movements within and across borders [1,11,12].…”