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41. Africa and the Global Compact on Refugees: Inclusive Policy Responses to Forced Displacement

Author:
Amanda Coffie, Richard Alemdjrodo, Patience Adzande, and Jocelyn Perry
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) esti- mates, nearly sixty-six million people had been forced to leave their homes and migrate as a result of conflict, political violence, ethnic and religious tensions, and natural disasters as of 2016.1 These rather high estimates contributed to the UN’s 2016 launch of the New York Declaration for Migrants and Refugees to enshrine global commitments to the challenges posed by high levels of forced displace- ment, and develop concrete plans for their resolution. This policy briefing note addresses the African Union and African govern- ments, as well as African scholars and policymakers regarding Africa’s particular position within global displacement and migration trends. It provides recommen- dations in the lead-up to the adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) at a special summit in Morocco in December 2018.
Topic:
Migration, Refugees, Displacement, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Uganda, Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo

42. Seasonal Migrants, Poverty Alleviation and Contract Sex in the Cocoa Producing Centers in the Littoral Quadrant of Cameroon: A Diagnostic Socio-Anthropological Study in the Post Colonial Era

Author:
Martin Sango Ndeh
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Cocoa production forms a very important part of Cameroon’s agroindustrial enterprise particularly along the coastal forest zones along the Littoral Quadrant. There are several communities in the South West region of Cameroon, which economies rely heavily on the cocoa industry. These communities that include areas like Munyenge, Bafia, Bai Bikum, Ekata and many others operate seasonal economies that depend on the fluctuating harvest of the cocoa farmers. The peak periods of harvest in these cocoa producing communities are usually periods of boom that have a serious ripple effect on these communities’ economy. The cocoa industry in these areas is well organized and it has attracted migrant labor from far and near. There are migrants from far off places in the North West and Western regions of Cameroon who come and settle in cocoa producing areas in the South West Region2 . In these areas, there are different categories of cocoa plantation operators: those who own cocoa farms as sole proprietors, while others work as paid labor and others as Two-party operators.3 In these producing areas, there are other categories of workers like the cocoa buyers who act as intermediaries between the farmers and the exporting companies like TELCA. Cocoa buyers are agents who buy cocoa directly from the farmers and intend to sell to exporting companies. Some of the cocoa buyers are independent operators while others act as agents to cocoa exporting companies. These companies alongside the Cameroonian’s government have contributed enormously to develop the cocoa sector, which is an important export exchange earner. The government of Cameroon through regional bodies like South West Development Authority (SOWEDA) and the Rumpi Participatory Development Project4 have taken interest in enhancing the cocoa industry because of the role that it plays in the development of these particular areas and the nation as a whole. The growth and expansion of the cocoa sector in these areas has attracted a huge influx of migrants and it is against this backdrop that this paper establishes a link between cocoa production, seasonal migration and some of the social ills associated with these seasonal movements.
Topic:
Agriculture, Migration, Post Colonialism, Poverty, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

43. The EU Migration Partnership Framework: Time for a Rethink?

Author:
Clare Castillejo
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
German Development Institute (DIE)
Abstract:
The European Union’s (EU) Migration Partnership Framework (MPF) was established in June 2016 and seeks to mobilise the instruments, resources and influence of both the EU and member states to establish cooperation with partner countries in order to “sustainably manage migration flows” (European Commission, 2017a, p. 2). Its strong focus on EU interests and positive and negative incentives mark a departure from previous EU migration initiatives and have generated significant controversy. This Discussion Paper examines the politics, implementation and impact of the MPF more than one year on from its establishment, asking what lessons it offers for the future direction of EU migration policy. The paper begins by introducing the MPF and examining the different perspectives of EU actors on the framework. It finds that there is significant disagreement both among EU member states and within EU institutions over the MPF’s approach and priorities. The paper explores the political and ethical controversies that the MPF has generated, including regarding its ambition to subordinate other areas of external action to migration goals; its use of incentives; and its undermining of EU development and human rights principles. The paper assesses the implementation and impact of the MPF in its five priority countries – Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. It argues that the concrete achievements of the migration partnerships have been limited; that the MPF has largely failed to incentivise the cooperation that the EU was seeking; and that the EU’s migration programming in MPF partner countries has suffered from serious flaws. The paper takes an in-depth look at the Ethiopia partnership, which has been the most challenging. It describes how the interests and goals of the EU and Ethiopia have not aligned themselves, how the issue of returns has come to entirely overshadow engagement, and how the relationship between the partners has been soured. The paper goes on to examine how the MPF relates to African interests and how it has affected EU-Africa relations, arguing that the MPF approach is seen by many African actors as imposing EU interests and undermining African unity and continental ambitions. Finally, it explores how the EU can develop engagement with Africa on migration issues that is more realistic, constructive, and sustainable, with the aim of fostering intra-African movement and economic opportunities; ensuring protection for refugees and vulnerable migrants; and allowing both continents to benefit from large-scale, safe and orderly African labour migration to Europe. However, it warns that any such shift will require a change in mindset by European leaders and populations.
Topic:
Development, International Cooperation, Migration, Labor Issues, Refugees, and Economy
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and European Union

44. Dynamics of African Economic Migration

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Migration continues to be a major issue affecting African societies. Here are three observations on how Africa’s economic migrants* affect security on the continent:
Topic:
Migration, United Nations, Diaspora, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, Egypt, Mediterranean, and Gulf of Aden

45. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Côte D’Ivoire

Author:
Alassane Outtara
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte D’Ivoire, addresses the Columbia University World Leaders Forum in Low Library.
Topic:
Development, Migration, and Economic growth
Political Geography:
Africa, New York, West Africa, and Côte d'Ivoire

46. Africa and the Politics of Possibility

Author:
Louis S. Segesvary
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
According to the IMF, the 2016 GDP per capita estimate for Eritrea was only $771 per annum; for Ethiopia $739; for Gambia $435; and for Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa's most populous country with major petroleum reserves, it was $2,930, or around $244 a month. According to a comprehensive report prepared by the African Development Bank Group, the number of impoverished people in sub-Saharan Africa had doubled from 1981 to 1998, with the number of people living on less than US $1 per day in the region, "reaching 290 million in 1998, which is over 46% of the total population." According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, in 2014/2015 some 153 million individuals in sub-Saharan Africa, about 26 percent of the population or one out of four individuals above 15 years of age, was "hungry but did not eat or went without eating for a whole day because there was not enough money or other resources for food." [...]a case can be made that all this aid has contributed to fostering a culture of dependency in which foreign aid grants become a form of entitlements that governments rely on to maintain a status quo, as opposed to attracting the type of private sector investments that grow economies.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

47. Mixed, Perilous and Other Migrations: Do African Lives Matter?

Author:
Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
This is a trying period for anyone that pays attention to African migration. Migrants’ gruesome deaths while in transit are given more coverage. Of these, those in the Mediterranean Sea, and to a lesser extent, the Sahara Desert make it more into the news. But there are also deaths in places in-between. Some are reported. Others are not. One only gets glimpses of such deaths when repatriated migrants mention or lament them. There has been more coverage of Libyan “Slave auctions,” at least after CNN released taped evidence from such markets (Elbagir, Razek, Platt, & Jones, 2017). The African Union (AU) and selected African states, including Nigeria, (which by dint of its sheer population size in the African continent, has more citizens caught up in the movements of migrants intent on getting out of their countries to realize dreams of social, economic and political security elsewhere), belatedly responded (Ibuot & Okopie, 2017; Daily Nation, 2017; Busari, 2017). Some have not bothered to do so. It is amazing that Nigeria and other African countries have embassies and diplomatic representative in Libya, yet, there was no previous report, awareness, response, nor were any measures whatsoever taken to document, respond to, and correct the abuses of citizens and violation of their human rights. What then is the value and utility of diplomatic representation? How do African governments understand their responsibilities to citizens? What is the function of the media in these countries? What is the duty of the AU?
Topic:
Diplomacy, Government, Human Rights, Migration, Media, and Violence
Political Geography:
Africa and African Union

48. African Migrants in Post-Soviet Moscow: Adaptation and Integration in a Time of Radical Socio-Political Transformations

Author:
Dmitri M. Bondarenko
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
The changes since the breakup of the USSR have impacted African migrants’ social composition, as well as their strategies and forms of adaptation and integration in the capital city of Moscow. In this study, we discuss the factors influencing the choices of African migrants, related to their background as Africans and to their perceptions of the receiving society. We distinguish between two social groups of African migrants and argue that while one group seeks integration into the Russian society, the other limits itself to mere adaptation to life in Moscow.
Topic:
Migration, Diaspora, Culture, and Urban
Political Geography:
Africa and Russia

49. Socio-cultural Factors Influencing the Ebola Virus Disease-related Stigma among African Immigrants in the United States

Author:
Guy-Lucien S. Whembolua, Donaldson Conserve, and Daudet Ilunga Tshiswaka
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
African immigrants, one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the United States (U.S.), face many unique challenges. Since December 2013, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been claiming lives and altering the societies of origin of West and Central African immigrants. Using the PEN-3 cultural model, a thematic analysis of mainstream U.S. news media was conducted to assess the socio-cultural factors influencing EVD-related stigma experienced by African immigrants. Results of this analysis revealed the perceptions and enabling/nurturing factors that exacerbated or prevented EVD-related stigma. Future interventions designed to address stigma experienced by African immigrants should include EVD-related stigma.
Topic:
Health, Migration, Infectious Diseases, and Ebola
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

50. Breaching Fortress Europe: By Any Means Necessary: The Complications of African Migration to Europe

Author:
Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
Although African migration to Europe dates back to antiquity, Africans’ presence in Europe increased substantially from the 1960s, especially since the imposition of neoliberal reforms in the 1980s, and the political crisis that consumed some African countries in the 1990s and 2000s. There has also been increased migration to Europe by the few skilled and professional Africans allowed to take advantage of opportunities that have opened up for employment in fields where there is a dearth of expertise. Nevertheless, predominant conceptualization of Africans’ movement into Europe entails breaching an impregnable fortress, using any means at their disposal. Those making irregular migration includes as a mix of refugees, asylees, documented and undocumented migrants. However, European economic crises and the vulnerabilities spawned in consequence, have laid bare politicized, securitized, xenophobic and callous responses, particularly in the frontline states that receive what is increasingly perceived as a “deluge.” Given the siege mentality that has developed around migration, the negative xenophobic attitudes, discourses and policies that emerge from them, and the increased securitization of migration, the siege characterization seems even more apt.
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, Immigration, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe