“It Is Better to Do Business in Africa than in Europe” – Socio-Economic Positionings among Business-Minded European Somalis Moving to Kenya

Abstract

Using the example of European Somalis moving to Kenya, this article argues that although these middle class return migrants share many similarities, they also differ in significant ways. Focusing on economically independent migrants, this paper will show that their move to Kenya is both return and onward migration at the same time. The transnational socio-economic positioning of Somali returnees in Kenya, this article demonstrates, rests on the importance of legal capital for enabling transnational mobility, which in turn is relevant for the convertibility of capital in the various local settings in which migrants settle.     

Regularization of Irregular Migrants and Social Policies: Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

This paper examines the social policy implications of the regularization of irregular immigrants. As an act of legal integration regularization arguably is about irregular migrants’ inclusion into mainstream social and legal structures and, as a corollary, has important implications for migrants’ access to social rights. Based on a recent comparative study of regularizations and their impact in seven EU Member-States, the study finds that access to social rights associated with regularizations indeed are reported as the most important impacts of regularization by regularized migrants themselves, next to access to work and related welfare entitlements.     

Too many winds to consider; which way and when to sail!: Ethiopian female transit migrants in Djibouti and the dynamics of their decision-making

Transit migration is a phenomenon on the rise partly due to the growth of international migration and more robust policies in destination countries making onward travel more difficult. The dominant discourse portrays transit migrants as agents stranded enroute-lacking agency to decide about their state of mobility/immobility. By going beyond such a normative victimization narrative of transit migrants, and by drawing on lived experiences of female Ethiopian migrants, this paper examines the agency of transit migrants; that is, the creative strategies they employ while planning their mobility/immobility, and in negotiating their precarious and vulnerable position. The paper discusses prospects of mobility/Immobility and/or settlement of migrants and factors that affect their informed decisions and argues against a monocausal analysis of factors influencing decision-making of migrants.     

Sino-Ghana bilateral relations and Chinese migrants’ illegal gold mining in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This article examines the participation of some Chinese migrants in illegal gold mining (known as galamsey) in Ghana, and how the Government’s policy to address the issue created diplomatic tension between China and Ghana. Drawing on primary data from in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 250 respondents and supplementary information from archival sources and personal observation, the study found that small-scale gold mining is an area legally reserved for Ghanaian indigenes, who faced stern competition from some Chinese migrants’ miners. Their ability to mobilize resources and machinery to execute galamsey virtually displaced the indigenes from their source of livelihood and caused environmental catastrophes. The Ghana Government’s policy response to the Chinese migrants’ galamsey, which led to arrests, sentencing and deportations of some Chinese miners, angered Beijing and fractured Ghana–China diplomatic ties. But the dispute could not collapse the entrenched bilateral relations between the two nations because the calculated mutual benefit derived from the relations was thought to be higher than the Chinese galamsey issue. Policy reforms which legally integrate Chinese migrants’ miners into the small-scale mining sector would stop galamsey and strengthen Sino-Ghana relations.     

Determinants of diaspora policy engagement of Ethiopians in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

State-diaspora relations is an emerging area of inquiry as we seek to deepen our understandings of state-diaspora policies. Few studies have yet to examine how the diaspora reacts to state-led policies for engagement. This paper examines Ethiopian migrants in the Netherlands awareness of and participation in five different diaspora policies implemented by the Government of Ethiopia. We explore the factors that contribute to having knowledge of these diaspora policies from a sample of 350 Ethiopians in the Netherlands. Five categories of factors are investigated including: socio-demographic characteristics, transnational ties, integration, migration experience, and trust. We find that trust and migration experience are the most significant variables in determining knowledge of the Ethiopian diaspora policies.     

Deported before experiencing the good sides of migration: Ethiopians returning from Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

In the period November 2013–April 2014 more than 160,000 Ethiopians were deported from Saudi Arabia after a seven months amnesty period for undocumented migrants came to an end. This large-scale regularization campaign of the Saudi government must be seen in light of the ‘Arab Spring’, when popular uprisings in the Middle East were threatening dictatorial regimes. The effect of the Arab Spring was felt globally; the uprisings impacted upon migrants living in countries in the Middle East and on their countries of origin. This paper looks into the experiences of Ethiopian deportees prior, during and after their forced return. We argue that the fact that the migrants were not prepared for their sudden return affected their economic, social network and psychosocial embeddedness back in Ethiopia. In addition, the Ethiopian government has not been able to improve the returnees’ economic embeddedness, which has affected their social and psychological status negatively.     

Ethiopian female labor migration to the Gulf states: the case of Kuwait

ABSTRACT

International labor migration is one of the most salient features of the modern globalized world. However, the phenomenon has its roots in some earlier periods in human history. Africa is traditionally a sending continent of all types of migrations, voluntary or forced. This study examines the above-mentioned issues through the mounting phenomenon of migration of single independent women in search for better economic, social, or political conditions across the boundaries of their home countries. In the past, African women migrants were only spouses or dependent family members. But as modernity swept most African societies, with rising unemployment rates, there is evidence everywhere in Africa that women labor migration is a growing phenomenon that deserves to be understood in the context of current gender-related research. This work explores these issues further, focusing on the experience of Ethiopian women labor migrants to Kuwait, within Gulf Cooperation Council, an area with a shared socio-economic background. In addition to numerous difficulties already facing labor migrants, Ethiopian women suffered greater degrees of gender-based violence, underpayment, and trafficking, to mention only few aspects of human rights violations. This situation could be attributed to the fact that most of these women fall under the category of unskilled and/or illiterate migrants, as irregular migrants who are employed within the private sector, outside the purview any legal or labor regulatory authorities.     

Emigrants and the state in Ethiopia: transnationalism and the challenges of political antagonism

ABSTRACT

Since the fall of military-socialist government in 1991 in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has embarked on the total restructuring of the state. It has presented ‘Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ as an ‘organizing principle’ and it has been working towards the rebuilding of the Ethiopian state along this line. The focus of this paper is EPRDF's policies and practices of engagement of Ethiopian emigrants. The analysis is based on information and interviews with government officials in Addis Ababa and with Ethiopian migrants in Washington DC during February–May 2013. This study indicates that the EPRDF government gradually started to focus its attention on Ethiopian migrants around the world, mainly due to the growing economic significance of their transnational engagement in Ethiopia. The study also shows the circumstances in which political debates about the conditions in Ethiopia has been permeating interactions within Ethiopians emigrants.     

Empirical Evidence on Human Trafficking and Migration-Debt Contracts in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the payments illegal migrants make to traffickers. It covers the total amounts of these payments, the incidence of migration-debt (or shared) contracts, and the value of the deferred payment component under these shared contracts. Data on illegal migrants from three field surveys conducted in Bangladesh from April 2009 to November 2010 are used. The results show that the total payments made to traffickers vary with easily observed characteristics (gender, age, marital status) but do not vary with details of the migration process (training provided, time spent in the trafficker’s queue). These relationships are consistent with exploitation. Migration-debt contracts are more prevalent when the costs of illegal migration are relatively high, which adds empirical support to theoretical models such as Friebel and Guriev (2006). Contrary to existing reports, we document variations in fees for illegal passage across individuals.     

The Impact of Socio-Cultural Integration on Return Intentions: Evidence from a Survey on Romanian Migrants

Abstract

This article analyzes the impact of socio-cultural integration on migrants’ intention to return to their country of origin. It distinguishes between the potential effects of inter-ethnic relations, language proficiency and perception of discrimination as components of integration. It uses individual-level data collected through an original survey among Romanian migrants in January 2018. It aims to test the effects of socio-cultural integration against those of alternative explanations provided in the literature. The findings indicate that the perception of discrimination, assessment of public institutions’ performance and belonging feelings are important predictors for return intentions.     

What if diasporas didn't think about development?: a critical approach of the international discourse on migration and development

Abstract

This paper explores the links between migration and development emphasized by international organizations. This discourse, which encourages migrants to work at their level, toward the development of their country has become consensual. But if one looks closely, these natural links seem fragile, both in international migration policies and social experiments of migration. By studying the case of the Togolese migration, this article shows that the institutionalization of this new paradigm is weak and that the recent implementation of migration policies in Togo just seems to be an answer to the requirements of international partners. More than a real programmatic issue, the role of the diaspora in development becomes an obligatory resource in negotiations with sponsors. Then, if the discourse on development began to emerge among migrants themselves, it is not necessarily synonymous with the growth of a strong culture of transnational or diasporic commitment. Few associative structures are actually created and migration trajectories and histories are first and foremost thought of in an individual or familial frame, far from social imperatives of community development. Finally, if we analyze the more general logic of these migrations in Togo, while they seem to foster identity transformations they may primarily function as a driving force behind reproduction of social inequalities in the country of origin.     

Immigration in Brazil

Abstract

The 100-year period between 1872 and 1972 saw significant migration movements to Brazil, particularly of people from Portugal, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The early migrants from Europe were drawn to the vast expanses of land, where they established colonies. The 20th century attracted two large waves of Japanese immigrants, the first being agricultural workers and the second, after World War II, workers in urban industries. While some migration to Brazil of groups from other South American countries continues, migration in the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st century has declined substantially. The country is faced, rather, with the emigration of large numbers of Brazilians to the United States, Japan, and Europe. Implications of the migration flows are discussed.     

Neither Here Nor There

Abstract

Since 1917 all Puerto Ricans, whether island- or mainland-born, are United States citizens. Physical proximity and relatively affordable transportation encourages Puerto Rican migration to the mainland United States. Puerto Rican migration takes three forms: the “one- way migrants,” who move permanently to the mainland; the “return migrants” who migrate to the mainland but after many years return to the island and reestablish residence; and the “circular migrants” who migrate back and forth between the island and the mainland spending substantial periods of residence in both places. The following analysis emphasizes the conditions that instigate the departure of Puerto Rican migrants from both the island and the mainland, and discusses the implications of Puerto Rican circular migration for social work and the provision of social welfare programs and services.     

The communitarian revolutionary subject: new forms of social transformation

Abstract

The hope for a unique revolutionary actor in the twentieth century evaporated as a result of the weaknesses of social organisations. This paper examines the potential of an almost-forgotten group of revolutionary actors – collectively organised and deliberately involved in processes of social and productive transformation with a legitimate claim to territory – whose present-day activities involve them in concerted processes to consolidate a different constellation of societies on the margins of the global capitalist system. Indigenous and peasant communities throughout the Americas are self-consciously restructuring their organisations and governance structures, taking control of territories they claimed for generations. They are also reorganising production to generate surplus, assembling their members to take advantage of underutilised resources and peoples’ energies for improving their ability to raise living standards and assure environmental conservation and restoration. These communities are not operating in isolation. They coordinate activities, share information and build alliances. Hundreds of millions of people are participating in this growing movement; they occupy much more than one-quarter of the world’s land area. There is great potential for others to join them, expanding from the substantial areas where they are already operational. Global social networks are ensuring that this dynamic accelerates.     

Somewhere else: social connection and dislocation of Ethiopian migrants in Johannesburg

ABSTRACT

The meaning of personal relationships for Ethiopian migrants to Johannesburg is shaped by individual connections, by imported social networks that are adapted in the host city, and by the particular conditions of livelihood creation in the emerging Ethiopian entrepreneurial enclave of ‘Jeppe’. In their migration individuals experience both rupture and reconnection – with relatives, as well as through relationships and networks that constitute social capital in Johannesburg. The social world of Ethiopian migrants in this entrepreneurial enclave is complex. Many social connections and dislocations are affected by the life choices in which income generation and economic relations are the primary aim and social relations are necessarily secondary. Others are influenced by the strength of informal social networks that serve the needs of Ethiopian migrants. And, far from ‘here’ and ‘there’ being connected through the use of technology and advanced connectivity, ‘home’ and Johannesburg are experienced as quite separate and different places.     

Stuck in Mobility? Interrupted Journeys of Migrants With Precarious Legal Status in Europe

Abstract

Due to lack of access to work and support services migrants with precarious legal status engage in onward mobility within EUrope and thus contest the migration regime that aims to control and limit their mobility. This article highlights the ambiguous nature of mobility from a critical mobilities perspective based on multi-sited ethnographic research and interviews with migrants in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. By focusing on their interrupted journeys, the article shows how migrants use mobility to secure basic needs and avoid migration control attempts and how this enhanced mobility aggravates emotional instability.     

The Texture of Livelihoods: Migration and Making a Living in Hanoi

Abstract

Through the experience of 30 rural migrants to Hanoi, this paper reconstructs their livelihood histories, linking the experience of our migrant subjects with wider transformations in Vietnam’s economy and society. We argue for an ‘everyday’ political economy that recognises the fluid connections between the state, society and economy, and the individual. While highlighting the indeterminacy and contingency of life, we recognise the wider context that contributes to the production of the livelihood textures we discern. The characteristic livelihood pathways of the migrant households are shown to echo research undertaken in rural, often less economically vibrant, contexts.     

The Co-evolution of Technology and Institutions in the Catch-up Process: The Case of the Semiconductor Industry in Korea and Taiwan

Abstract

This paper explores the industrial specialisation of latecomer countries, particularly Korea and Taiwan, which are often referred to as successful catch-up cases. The traditional wisdom is that the ‘developmental state’, resource leverage, and technological sophistication in an export-oriented strategy have been the factors for success. However, firm strategies and a supportive government are not sufficient to explain the different features of catch-up patterns. In this paper we propose that differences in industrial specialisation of catch-up countries are attributable to the interaction between technological characteristics and institutional settings, including corporate organisation, industrial structure, and the role of the public sector.     

‘Voting with their feet’: Senegalese youth,clandestine boat migration,and the gendered politics of protest

Abstract

This article explores the political, economic, racialized, and moral dimensions of clandestine boat migration from Senegal to the Canary Islands between 2006 and 2011. I begin with a critical interpretation of clandestine boat migrations as a form of gendered protest and as a strategic response to the perceived lack of economic opportunities for young Senegalese men. I continue with a critique of the overlapping and racialized geographies of the Canary Islands, which simultaneously represent a holiday respite for tourists and the promise of a new life for economic migrants. I conclude with a discussion of the utility of scholarship, such as this, which complicates the tidiness of area studies, illuminates the lived complexities of transnational studies, and paves the way for a more global African Diaspora Studies.