South-South Migration between Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean: Susanne Melde Research Officer Interregional Workshop on International Migration Geneva, 22 September 2011 Challenges and Opportunities

O UTLINE 1. Introduction 2. Intra- and inter-regional migration 3. Regional and national frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa and LAC 4. Challenges and opportunities 5. Conclusions 2

1. I NTRODUCTION What is the ‘South’? The migration and development debate: - the South- North bias - the highly- skilled bias Notions of mobility and migration 3

1. INTRODUCTION: SOUTH-SOUTH MIGRATION & DEVELOPMENT 4 The importance of South-South migration (2005): Almost 50 % of emigrants from developing countries resided in developing countries in almost 65% in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010 (WB, 2010) and 60% in LAC in 2000 (SICREMI, 2011) Over 80 % of South-South migration estimated to take place between neighbouring countries (Ratha and Shaw, 2007) Large internal movements Often overlooked in research and policies:  Possible contribution of South-South migration to human development

2. MIGRATION WITHIN AFRICA & AFRICA – LAC 5 Intra-regional: Migration poles in sub-Saharan Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia (WB, 2010) Migration poles in Latin America & the Caribbean: Argentina, República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia (WB, 2010; SICREMI, 2011)

2. MIGRATION BETWEEN AFRICA & AFRICA – LAC 6 Inter-regional: Africa- LAC routes - Africa – South America (e.g. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador) - Transit from Africa via Andean countries towards the US and Canada (preliminary data of IOM study, forthcoming) - West Africa – Caribbean: anecdotal evidence  Relatively small compared to intra-regional but emerging trend LAC – Africa: e.g. Cuban doctors in South Africa, Brazilians in Angola Other important trends: Africans in China; Chinese and Indians in Africa; Chinese, Indians and Filipinos in LAC  Lack of data

2. MOBILITY OF THE HIGHLY SKILLED 7 … also among developing countries: Towards the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (9.6 million highly skilled immigrants in 2000), Malaysia, Taiwan Province of China... South Africa (1.3 million in 2000) Within the Caribbean (80% received tertiary education, Mac Andrew, 2011 ) About 17.5 % of immigrants are tertiary educated (Docquier and Marfouk, 2005)  Mainly intra-regional flows  Lower skilled migration much more important

8 3. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE ‘SOUTH’  Immigration legislation like visa waiver in Ecuador increased African immigration  Regularization of immigrants: by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, mostly concerning MERCOSUR nationals, not Africans  Social integration: CARICOM Agreement on Social Security  Labour mobility: - intra-regional - few bilateral agreements and - few comprehensive labour migration policies that would cover South-South movements

9 3. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE ‘SOUTH’  Diaspora engagement: Emigrant ministries, high councils, diaspora desks, etc. - focus on diasporas in Europe and North America (Africa’s “6 th region”) - those in the South are often overlooked  Trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants: anti-TiP legislation at national and regional level (e.g. SADC, ECOWAS, bi-regionally ECCAS – ECOWAS, OAS)  Irregular migration: e.g. cooperation between Cape Verde and Brazil  Refugee protection: at national level based on international frameworks, e.g. Senegalese in Argentina

3. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE ‘SOUTH’ 10 Regional: Migration and development Mobility: Free movement of people  Objective vs. implementation  Proliferation of sub-regional integration processes Regional Consultative Processes on Migration Broader development objectives, economic integration Other (e.g. Community of Portuguese Language Countries - CPLP)

11 3. REGIONAL AND NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE ‘SOUTH’ - Migration frameworks at regional, bilateral or national levels, not Africa – LAC  Yet global and regional human rights treaties and declarations apply - Need for strengthening inter-regional South - South cooperation e.g. CPLP and ACP in Africa – LAC context; Third Global Meeting of Chairs and Secretariats of RCPs

4. CHALLENGES TO MAKE MIGRATION WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT 12 Lack of general data and research on impact of South- South (im)migration on development Immigration in countries in the South often forgotten in policies and strategies Obstacles to migration for lower skilled workers  Particular groups barred from movement (e.g. women) High degree of informality in labour markets Challenge protection of human rights of migrants and their families, discrimination and xenophobia Lack of access to social protection schemes and lack of portability of social insurance benefits

4. OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE MIGRATION WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT 13 South-South cooperation has been existing for a long time Intra-regional migration entails less distance and costs Less cultural and linguistic differences facilitate integration and reduce psychological problems More opportunities for lesser skilled migration Outreach and data needs to include diasporas residing in the South  Enabling environment needed  Need to integrate the potential benefits of human mobility in national & regional development planning, in particular South-South migration

14 5. CONCLUSIONS Often overlooked: Migration among developing countries and its development potential  Evidence needed to inform policies  Strengthening of South-South cooperation on M&D  Importance of human rights and social protection Decreasing costs of migration and fostering remittances Opportunity for developing gender-sensitive policies Encouraging inter-regional approaches to tackle youth unemployment, informal labour markets and the creation of employment

Example of the ACP Observatory on Migration:*  Consolidating existing migration data and information on South-South migration and development  Provide policy-makers, the civil society, media and the public at large with reliable and harmonized information on migration  Creating a network of research centres, universities, government agencies, civil society, the private sector and migrant associations in the six ACP regions  Training and capacity reinforcement of multi-disciplinary South specialists and experts * The total budget for the project is €. The European Union contributes with € CONCLUSIONS - Continued

East Africa Central Africa Kenya Caribbean West Africa Southern Africa Tanzania Pacific Cameroun DRC Nigeria Senegal Timor-Leste Papua New Guinea Trinidad & Tobago Haiti Lesotho Angola 12 Pilot Countries of the ACP Observatory on Migration

17 The ACP Observatory on Migration: Facts and Figures  24 Meetings of National Consultative Committees in 10 countries  studies in a Compendium of research on South-South migration  36 practionners trained in data collection on diasporas and remittances, 22 on data management software and 28 on environmental migration, internal migration and health National studies792 Regional studies240 Cross-cutting studies227 Total1 259  7 Calls for Tenders launched for Research studies in pilot countries – 2 studies in progress

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