This study tries to achieve a more empirically and quantitatively founded understanding of the nature, scale and recent evolution of irregular West African migration to the Maghreb and Europe. It also evaluates how policies to manage trans-Saharan and trans-Mediterranean migration have affected current migration patterns.--Publisher's description.

Although much literature on human trafficking focuses on sex trafficking, a great deal of human trafficking results from migrant workers, compelled - by economic deprivation in their home countries - to seek better life opportunities abroad, especially in agriculture, construction and domestic work. Such labour migration is sometimes legal and well managed, but sometimes not so – with migrant workers frequently threatened or coerced into entering debt bondage arrangements and ending up working in forced labour situations producing goods for illicit markets. This book fills a substantial gap in the existing literature given that labour trafficking is a much more subtle form of exploitation than sex trafficking. It discusses how far large multinational corporations are involved, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in human trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation. They explore how far corporations are driven to seek cheap labour by the need to remain commercially competitive and examine how the problem often lies with corporations’ subcontractors, who are not as well controlled as they might be. The essays in the volume also outline and assess measures being taken by governments and international agencies to eradicate the problem.

Even as the 2013-2017 "migration crisis" is increasingly in the past, EU countries still struggle to come up with alternative solutions to foster safe, orderly, and regular migration pathways, Europeans continue to look in the rear-view mirror. This Report is an attempt to reverse the perspective, by taking a glimpse into the future of migration to Europe. What are the structural trends underlying migration flows to Europe, and how are they going to change over the next two decades? How does migration interact with specific policy fields, such as development, border management, and integration? And what are the policies and best practicies to manage migration in a more coherent and evidence-based way?

This publications reviews migration policies in the main OECD countries receiving West African migrants and analyses the recent discussions concerning West African migration.

Over the 20th century, Morocco has become one of the world’s major emigration countries. But since 2000, growing immigration and settlement of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Europe confronts Morocco with an entirely new set of social, cultural, political and legal issues. This book explores how continued emigration and increasing immigration is transforming contemporary Moroccan society, with a particular emphasis on the way the Moroccan state is dealing with shifting migratory realities. The authors of this collective volume embark on a dialogue between theory and empirical research, showcasing how contemporary migration theories help understanding recent trends in Moroccan migration, and, vice-versa, how the specific Moroccan case enriches migration theory. This perspective helps to overcome the still predominant Western-centric research view that artificially divide the world into ‘receiving’ and ‘sending’ countries and largely disregards the dynamics of and experiences with migration in countries in the Global South. This book was previously published as a special issue of The Journal of North African Studies.

West Africa’s patterns of migration in pre-colonial and early post-colonial times were predominantly internal and regional; from landlocked Sahelian countries to relatively prosperous mines, plantations and coastal cities. This was very significant in ensuring quality brain and skills circulation in the region. Out-migration to Europe, despite the numerous benefits that come along with it, remains a huge problem for the region and very worrisome to policy makers. As the previous significant brain and skills circulation that existed in the region has shifted to Europe, it paralysed its human and socioeconomic development efforts. On the other hand it is a huge and an unbearable burden on the social welfare system and job market of Europe. Considering the problematic and worrisome nature of unskilled, semi-skilled and professional youth migration, this study is set to search for its determinants. The findings are intended for a better and more informed policy formulation. Assuming that at the beginning of the 21st Century, West Africa’s migratory trends to Europe have changed from predominantly regular to alarmingly irregular and clandestine, this research also investigates the motivations behind this trend. The focus of this study is the migration flow from West Africa to Europe, using Ghana as a case study.