DATE / TIME:

2017•05•30

Location:

Barcelona

While public debate and policy attention on migration has focused in recent years on so-called migration crises in the Mediterranean region and in Europe, much less sustained attention has been given to the processes of migration and displacement in contemporary Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa hosts the largest numbers of refugees, amounting to more than 26 per cent of the world’s refugee population (UNHCR, 2015). Moreover, most international migrants living in Africa move within the region, making intra-regional migration an important phenomenon (UNDESA, 2015).

UNU-GCM held a symposium with the aim to shed light on these diverse dimensions and experiences of migration and forced displacement within contemporary Africa, and from Africa to other regions. It brought together scholars who examine this from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives, in order to foster a wide-ranging dialogue on the local, regional and global implications of these movements. Speakers addressed a range of themes within an African context, including: the geopolitical impacts of US foreign policy on forced migration and displacement; the multifaceted decision-making processes of migrants; the ways in which EU policy discourses about migrant smuggling overlook complex historical, social and political dynamics; experiences of xenophobia among migrant women; and the agency and aspirations of migrants as they search for better livelihoods in their localities, regions and further afield.