Migration From The Middle East And North Africa To Europe

One of the most important challenges concerning the future of the European Union is the demographic reproduction of the European population. Decreasing birth-rates and the retirement of the baby boomers will dramatically reduce the labour force in the EU, which will entail not only a lack of manpower but also lower contributions to European social systems. It seems clear that the EU will have to counterbalance this population decrease by immigration in the coming years. Migration Between the Middle East, North Africa and Europe takes this challenge as a point of departure for analysing the MENA region, in particular Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, as a possible source of future migration to the European Union. At the same time, it illustrates the uncertainties implied in such calculations, especially at a time of radical political changes, such as those brought about by the Arab Uprising.

One of the most important challenges facing the European Union is demographic: as birth rates continue to decline and the population ages, immigration will be needed to sustain a sufficient working-age population. This volume takes that fact as a point of departure for analyzing patterns and prospects of immigration from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe

Overzicht van recente, huidige en toekomstige ontwikkelingen rond de migratie vanuit Noord-Afrika en het Midden-Oosten naar Europa.

Fourteen specialists from across the European Union discuss current issues regarding Middle Eastern and North African immigrants in Europe, focusing on topics such as immigration legislation, assimilation, integration, multiculturalism, community formation, citizenship, political participation, and religious and cultural identities. This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Immigrants and Minorities.

The countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) and those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are crucial to the development of the world economy. Highly skilled migration to and from these regions is key to the recent socio-political transformations that have occurred across the world. Despite this, in the states concerned, skilled migration remains an underlying 'issue of concern', rather than at the top of political agendas, leading to a spectrum of unclear and uncoordinated legal and policy frameworks. Containing a series of thematic and country-specific overviews, this book highlights the specificity of each region, and identifies and analyses key demographic, economic, legal and political data - allowing for policy prescription. Skilled Migration, the 'brain drain', and its impact is an extensively debated phenomenon and this will be an essential companion for social scientists, policy-makers and development scholars.

Comparing demographic trends in Europe and the NAME-region (North Africa and the Middle East), this book demonstrates how population change interacts with changing economic landscapes, social distinctions and political realities. It also provides food for thought for those who are looking for a nuanced perspective on the background and future perspectives of demographic developments in Europe, for a discussion of recent demographic and political realities in the NAME countries, and for those who analyse the effects of contrasting demographic regimes on migration flows to and migration politics in Europe.

'In this outstanding contribution to scholarship on the politics of migration, Tsourapas shows how migration policies in the Global South are shaped by power and interests. Based on rich historical research, Migration diplomacy unveils the range of strategies used by Middle Eastern and North African states to link human mobility to broader political goals.' Alexander Betts, Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, University of Oxford 'Tsourapas provides us with a fascinating analytical framework and argues that the politics of migratory movements can be better understood when looked at through the lens of migration diplomacy.' Ahmet Içduygu, Professor of International Relations and Sociology, Koç University 'Tsourapas has produced a deeply-researched, beautifully written and thought-provoking addition to the burgeoning literature on migration diplomacy. His book is a must-read text for anyone interested in the study of migration, diasporic mobilization and the politics of the MENA region.' Kelly M. Greenhill, Research Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University How does migration feature in states’ diplomatic agendas across the Middle East? Migration diplomacy provides the first systematic examination of the foreign policy importance of migrants, refugees and diasporas in the Global South. Tsourapas examines how emigration-related processes become embedded in governmental practices of establishing and maintaining power; how states engage with migrant and diasporic communities residing in the West; how oil-rich Arab monarchies have extended their support for a number of sending states’ ruling regimes via cooperation on labour migration; and, finally, how labour and forced migrants may serve as instruments of political leverage. Drawing on multi-sited fieldwork and data collection and employing a range of case-studies across the Middle East and North Africa, Tsourapas identifies how the management of cross-border mobility in the Middle East is not primarily dictated by legal, moral, or human rights considerations but driven by states’ actors key concern – political power.

The study proposes a different understanding of the complex relationship between Europe and the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa, it challenges the conventional wisdom on Europe's benevolent foreign policy and the image of 'Fortress Europe' alike.