‘Between a rock & a hard place’: North Africa as a region of emigration, immigration & transit migration

Abstract

The prevailing Eurocentric perspective on Mediterranean migration lies almost exclusively in the security paradigm, focusing upon African illegal migration to Europe and disregarding the role of migration in the socio-economic development of the African continent. The older emigration histories of North African countries are diverse, with Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria linked to France as a destination country, Libya as an immigration country, and Egypt linked with other Arab countries for temporary migration alongside permanent migration to Anglophone countries. More recent changes include the emergence of southern Europe as destination countries for all except Libyans, and all of North Africa turned into transit countries for migrants from sub-Sahara Africa and Asia.

The ‘new migrations’ from and through North Africa are described, along with known major migration routes and data on interceptions of illegal migrants by southern European countries. North African policy responses are also identified, noting especially the failure of all countries in the region to observe international human rights standards. Finally, I outline the ‘failed policy’ of the European Union, which simply continues the securitisation approach previously pursued by Spain and Italy, neglecting the fundamental realities of Africa as a new continent of emigration. Furthermore, European policy promotes the human rights abuses of North Africa with regard to illegal migrants and asylum-seekers, yet welcomes skilled (as opposed to semiskilled) African migrants to European territory. Europe thus guarantees the continuation of African underdevelopment – seeking to avoid its negative symptom of mass emigration and asylum-seeking whilst benefiting from the migration to Europe of skilled African workers.

Notes

1. Approximations from World Bank data (2004: Table A.7).

2. Both the OECD and World Bank datasets on skilled expatriates are based primarily upon detailed population stock data from the OECD area, of which only a few countries are unable to provide such data (Italy, Greece, Turkey et al.). The World Bank methodology is described in detail in World Bank (2006b), pp. 155-196. Essentially, the study optimises the use of available data by using stock data for 1990 and 2000 in OECD receiving countries, country of birth of migrants rather than nationality, and attempting by various mechanisms to standardise the data. The stocks of skilled foreign-born nationals are then related to population by educational level in the country of origin, using the UN population dataset (supplemented in some cases by the CIA World Factbook). The ratio gives a rough indicator of the emigration rate, i.e. how significant emigration of skilled personnel is for that country. Comparison with previous studies is made (pp. 192-194) and the authors conclude that faulty data on educational levels used in the older studies resulted in overestimation of the rate of skilled emigration for North Africa and Turkey, whilst seriously underestimating the rates for sub-Saharan Africa and, globally, small island countries.

3. PPP data are not available for Libya.

4. The International Centre for Migration Policy Development – an intergovernmental agency basedin Vienna, with a specific focus on border management and illegal migration issues.

5. Own calculations from EC (2005b), Annex 2, Table 4.

6. The International Organization for Migration, based in Geneva.