The Rise of the Migration-Development Nexus in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, 1960–2010

Abstract

Abstract:This article aims to analyze the emergence of the migration-development nexus after decolonization in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. The first section explores the way in which French governmental bodies and NGOs started to frame public policies linking migration and development in the 1960s and 1970s. The second section highlights how developmentalist ideology was mobilized in the 1980s in order to set up return policies in partnership with African governments who were increasingly inclined to control migrants’ monetary remittances. The last section emphasizes how the migration-development nexus was orchestrated to control migratory flows from the late 1980s onwards.

Reversing the gaze: West Africa performing the EU migration-development-security nexus

“…To conclude, within a short timeframe, not only concerns of development and human rights, but also security, have been invoked to justify and legitimize massive sovereigntybreaching policies by the USA and EU on African territories. This migration-developmentsecurity nexus (Sørensen, 2012;Truong and Gasper, 2011) is indeed a merging of the former migration-development nexus (Dedieu, 2018) with a more recent migrationsecurity nexus (Faist, 2006).…”

“…Historically, the creation of migration policy at the European level has been articulated within the closure of European countries' legal access to labor migration since the 1970s (Dedieu, 2018). Since then, the EU has focused on selective migration and the implementation of filtering policies fostering high-skilled worker programmes and student exchanges.…”

“…Article 13 of the Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000 between the EU and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), explicitly links cooperation agreements and migration control policy. Over the past two decades, migration has become a central feature in negotiations between European and African countries, including in areas that are not historically linked to migration policy, such as trade, development and security (Gabrielli, 2007;Dedieu, 2018). As Marie-Dominique Aguillon (2018: 8) points out, "with the Cotonou agreement, it is the first time that an instrument of economic cooperation financed by […] Official Development Assistance […] contains questions related to the removal of individuals in an irregular situation".…”

Young migrants’ views of their present and future in Niamey and Niger

“…The first three of these concepts were intended to probe participant background and migratory characteristics. Thus, the first concept, residential experiences, prompted interview questions related to: reasons why they migrated, who they migrated with, how long they have lived as a migrant, and who they live with (Dedieu 2018;De Maio et al 2017;Hove et al 2013). The second concept, home security/support, prompted interview questions related to: where they sleep at night and where they eat their meals (Dedieu 2018;Hove, et al 2013;Newland et al 2010).…”

“…Thus, the first concept, residential experiences, prompted interview questions related to: reasons why they migrated, who they migrated with, how long they have lived as a migrant, and who they live with (Dedieu 2018;De Maio et al 2017;Hove et al 2013). The second concept, home security/support, prompted interview questions related to: where they sleep at night and where they eat their meals (Dedieu 2018;Hove, et al 2013;Newland et al 2010). The third concept, migratory habits, prompted interview questions related to: whether they were making a permanent new home or returning to their village during the harvest season to assist their family, and whether they would consider remaining in their village if they could earn a living from agriculture (Mirowsky and Ross 2003;Wellman and Wortley 1990;Willmott 1987).…”