African Migration: The case of Western Africa

Perceptions on Africa migration is often based on some circumstantial facts encrusted, however with over simplification ending with the creation of myths. The latest events, with thousands of refugees attempting to leave the North African shores have contributed once again to give a less then accurate description of the African migration movement. Despite the general perspective, migration between African countries, take up more migrants than that with the neighbor Europe while overall migration between developing countries outnumbers every other form of migration. In this paper we attempt to add to the current literature on African migration, focusing in particular on West Africa. In the last decade African migration flows have increased of intensity, with countries serving at the same time as places of origin, transit and destination of migrants. This has amplified the social and political tensions inside the countries object of such movements, while on the other hand has also increased the need from Western countries to better understand such new phenomenon. In first part we describe the paths of migration which originate from the Sub Saharan countries, pass through the West African and North African countries aiming to reach the European Mediterranean countries. In doing this we examine the interconnection between the different migration path. Subsequently we will look at migration policies highlighting the increasing involvement of the European Union in the promotion of developmental policies for the country of origin of migrants and the implementation of new immigration priorities.