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Migration Information Source Releases Special Issue on Africa

For Immediate Release
September 9, 2004
Contact: Kimberly Hamilton
202/266-1921

WASHINGTON – The Migration Information Source’s new Special Issue on Africa explores the crisis in Darfur, Sudan; new African migration patterns and the solutions that African countries have developed in the areas of refugees and humanitarian aid; and post- conflict reconstruction in Liberia. It also includes profiles of Lesotho, Mali and Botswana, as well as data on African immigrants in the United States.

“Africa is home to more than 16 million migrants and refugees and is also the source of a growing number of migrants destined for other regions in the world,” according to Kimberly Hamilton, managing editor of The Source. "As in any other region of the world, labor migration is crucial for many economies and illegal immigration is difficult to manage. At the same time, many African governments struggle with longstanding and emerging refugee flows, making this continent one of the most complex arenas in which to manage international migration."

The Special Issue is available online now at www.migrationinformation.org/Africa.cfm. Articles include:

Darfur: Beyond the Brink of Disaster
MPI Associate Policy Analyst Erin Patrick maps out the latest developments in the evolving refugee crisis in and around Sudan’s Darfur region.

The African Foreign Born in the US
MPI Senior Demographer Elizabeth Grieco takes a detailed look at several key features of the population of African foreign born in the United States.

Botswana’s Changing Migration Patterns
Botswana has rapidly evolved from a migrant sending country to a migrant receiving country, according to Kate Lefko-Everett of the Southern Africa Migration Project.

Liberia: The Challenges of Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Beverlee Bruce of the Social Science Research Council provides a field-based look at the country’s post-conflict reconstruction.

Changing Configurations of Migration in Africa
Aderanti Adepoju of the Human Resources Development Centre in Lagos provides an overview of Africa’s dynamic migration flows, examining trends ranging from feminization to diversification.

Mali: Seeking Opportunity Abroad
Sally E. Findley of Columbia University examines Malians’ age-old solution to their economic difficulties: migration.

Data Insight: International Migration in Africa: An Analysis Based on Estimates of the Migrant Stock
Hania Zlotnik of the UN Population Division focuses on the challenges of analyzing data on international migration in Africa.

Lesotho: Will the Enclave Empty?
Jim Cobbe of Florida State University explains how Lesotho’s intimate economic and ethnic ties to South Africa are expressed in large-scale migration.

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The Migration Information Source is a project of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide.