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. Future scenarios 2. Challenges and opportunities 3. Best practices 4. Advances in integrating migration into the development agendas 2

1. F UTURE S CENARIOS Intra-regional migration is likely to increase in the future - demographic developments - recent events  mostly intra-regional  possibly more to BRICS countries 3

2. CHALLENGES TO MAKE MIGRATION WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT 4 Lack of general data and research on impact of South- South (im)migration on development Immigration and intra-regional migration in countries in the South need to be strengthened on the political agendas Limited legal migration opportunities for lower skilled migrant workers, especially young migrants High degree of informality in labour markets and lack of creation of formal employment External shocks (food, energy, financial and economic crises, political conflicts) Lack of information  South-South migration often takes place outside of existing frameworks

2. OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE MIGRATION WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT 5 Possible poverty reduction potential Intra-regional migration entails less distance and costs, less cultural and linguistic differences Potential of circulation of human and social capital, skills Well-developed informal remittance channels  Different context requiring innovative measures Including migration in existing development cooperation frameworks (e.g. ASACOF, IBSA)

3. GOOD PRACTICES 6 Regional: ECOWAS and CARICOM: Free movement of persons Latin America: regional human rights commitments on migration and development Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States: linking Africa and Caribbean, sharing of good practices CARICOM: social integration ECCAS – ECOWAS: joint bi ‐ regional Cooperation Agreement and Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children  yet proliferation of sub-regional integration processes posing harmonization challenges

3. GOOD PRACTICES (cont.) 7 Bilateral: Argentina and Bolivia: reciprocal regularization Mexico and Guatemala: information campaigns on legal migration options for Guatemalan agricultural workers in Mexico

8 4. ADVANCES IN INTEGRATING MIGRATION INTO DEVEOPMENT AGENDAS Prominent topics: - remittances - trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants - ‘brain drain’ - increasingly diasporas Challenge reality and evidence-base vs. perception Lack of comprehensive knowledge on informal remittances Not enough knowledge on impact of (South-South) migration on development

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