Konferenzbericht (PDF-Dokument, 3 MB) - SID

Wissen wandert
besser verstehen und darauf reagieren. Europa muss
ebenso seinen eigenen Gesellschaften erklären, welche
demographischen und wirtschaftlichen Bedürfnisse es in
Bezug auf Migration hat.
In trying to decipher African perspectives on European
migratory policy, it is necessary to first and foremost put
into perspective what these policies are and what their
overall intention is.
Broadly speaking, the last few years has seen Europe
come up with a flurry of initiatives whose ostensible aim
was to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants who show
up on the southern coasts of Europe. The spring to
autumn season has no shortage of dramatic images of
young African men, women and children being lifted out
of the seas in terrible conditions after incredible, harrow-
ing journeys across land and sea. Those are the lucky
ones who make it to the other side – often barely alive,
but nonetheless alive. A good number of prospective
migrants never make it alive.
Arthur Muliro
What are the driving forces that propel Africa‟s future –
its young women and men – to risk all to try and reach
their new El Dorado, Europe? This list does not pretend
to be exhaustive – I merely list the more prominent ones:
- Stagnating economic performance – even though
African economies have been recording some im-
pressive growth figures, this growth has failed to
trickle down to the majority of the young and un-
employed; the poor. Add to this the inability of the
knowledge migrates
majority to make a decent living off the land (either
through low prices for crops or due to environmental
challenges). Thus, they have been forced by exi-
gency to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
- Conflict – endemic conflict has displaced thou-sands
of people who have been forced to leave their homes
and livelihoods in their search for safety.
- Demographics and labour demand – particularly in
Europe. There is a strong need for cheap (and un-
documented) labour. The reality is that European
economies depend on these illegal immigrants,
much as they are denigrated and reviled. The flip
side of this is that there is a surfeit of young, able-
bodied people in Africa.
- Improving infrastructure – as infrastructure is devel-
oped and it becomes easier (relatively speaking) to
travel across the continent, the barriers to travel are
lowered and more people are tempted to make the-
se crossings.
It is also important to note that most of the international
migration in Africa has occurred and still occurs outside
a regulatory framework, largely due to the fact that few
African countries have a well-articulated policy on inter-
national migration and where these exist, few countries
actually enforce their own laws and regulations on emi-
gration rigidly. Furthermore, the debate on Euro-African
migration generally assumes that there is a neat and
clear distinction between „receiving‟ and „sending‟ coun-
tries. Many African countries are not only receiving and
sending countries, but also transit countries. Yet the
current literature and debate neglects this reality, focus-
ing much more on a simple dichotomy of „sending‟ and
„receiving‟ countries in which case, Europe is the recipi-
ent and Africa the sender. Yet the reality is that the ma-
jorities of flows take place within Africa and remain in
Africa.
The current policy framework as articulated by Europe –
as stated earlier – has the control of migratory flows as a
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