Middle East & North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa span both poles of migration: as countries of migrant destination, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and as countries of migrant origin. The region has a large supply of young, active workers, with millions working elsewhere in the region or in Europe. The research here focuses on labor and humanitarian migration to and from the region, including the policies and regulations that govern such migration, protection and integration issues for the region's refugees, diaspora engagement, migration cooperation and reintegration agreements with European governments, and more.

Reports

Diverging Paths: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Migration in the Middle East and North Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on mobility in the Middle East and North Africa were immediate and wide-reaching. These include the world’s largest and most sustained repatriation efforts for stranded migrants, halted and reversed irregular journeys, and a reckoning with some countries’ reliance on foreign labor. This report examines how these impacts varied across countries in this highly diverse region, as well as the uneven recovery.

Paintings of the Algerian and Moroccan flags on a brick wall

Articles

Tense Neighbors, Algeria and Morocco Have Divergent Migration Histories

Algeria and Morocco sit along a crucial migration corridor between Africa and Europe and have often been defined by their rivalry. Although both have been reluctant to welcome large numbers of sub-Saharan African migrants, their motivations have been different. And historically, their approaches to emigration have been a study in contrasts. This article explores the factors driving migration policy in these two countries.

Recent Activity

Articles June 24, 2021 Can Diaspora Bonds Supercharge Development Investment? By Aleksandr V. Gevorkyan	Multimedia May 19, 2021 EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Switching Perspectives?
Policy Briefs May 2021 EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Crafting a Road Map to Better Cooperation with Migrants’ Countries of Origin By Camille Le Coz	Articles April 22, 2021 Iran Loses Highly Educated and Skilled Citizens during Long-Running “Brain Drain” By Hassan Mahmoudi
Reports April 2021 COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2020 By Meghan Benton, Jeanne Batalova, Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Timo Schmidt	Multimedia March 17, 2021 COVID-19 Recovery and the Next Stage of the Syrian Refugee Response After Ten Years
Reports March 2021 A Bridge to Firmer Ground: Learning from International Experiences to Support Pathways to Solutions in the Syrian Refugee Context By Camille Le Coz, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Timo Schmidt, Susan Fratzke, Andrea Tanco, Maria Belen Zanzuchi and Jessica Bolter	Articles March 4, 2021 Violent Encounters and Social Status Shape the Conditions for Migrants Fleeing Civil War By Justin Schon

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Policy Briefs September 2013 What We Know: Regulating the Recruitment of Migrant Workers By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Policy Briefs September 2013 What We Know About Circular Migration and Enhanced Mobility By Graeme Hugo
Policy Briefs September 2013 What Do We Know About Skilled Migration and Development? By Michael Clemens	Books July 2013 How Can Talent Abroad Induce Development at Home? Towards a Pragmatic Diaspora Agenda
Policy Briefs August 2012 Regulating Private Recruitment in the Asia-Middle East Labour Migration Corridor By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza	Policy Briefs July 2012 Asian Labour Migrants and Humanitarian Crises: Lessons from Libya By Brian Kelly and Anita Jawadurovna Wadud
Books June 2012 Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development: A Handbook for Policymakers and Practitioners in Home and Host Countries By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland	Books April 2012 Hoja de ruta para la participación de las diásporas en el desarrollo: Un manual para políticos y profesionales de los países de origen y de acogida By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland

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Feature

July 2, 2019

A Growing Destination for Sub-Saharan Africans, Morocco Wrestles with Immigrant Integration

Long a country of emigration and a springboard for migrants aiming to reach Europe, Morocco has emerged as a destination for many sub-Saharan Africans. As more migrants remain in Morocco, the kingdom has implemented policies to aid with integration. But challenges remain, with most of the estimated 700,000 sub-Saharan Africans living in precarious conditions and irregular status despite some legalization programs.

Feature

April 3, 2019

Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?

Even with the collapse of the Islamic State's "caliphate," thousands of Western foreign fighters are estimated to remain in the Middle East. Deciding how to handle the return of the radicalized—and their dependents—is no easy issue. Some countries seek to revoke their citizenship. Yet citizenship revocation has unclear impact and raises deep questions about the limits of a state’s responsibility to its citizens, as this article explores.

Feature

February 21, 2019

A Fragile Situation: Will the Syrian Refugee Swell Push Lebanon Over the Edge?

Lebanon is home to more refugees per capita than any other country. The arrival of approximately 1 million refugees from neighboring Syria has created tensions not only with the native population, but also with long-established Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon. A lack of integration and resources, plus a complex domestic context, suggest further hardship may lie ahead for recent and earlier-arrived refugees alike.

Feature

February 6, 2019

On the Move in a War Zone: Mixed Migration Flows to and through Yemen

War and impending famine in Yemen have captured significant attention. Yet often overlooked is the country’s role as the epicenter of one of the world’s busiest mixed migration routes, linking Africa, Asia, and Europe. This article examines the migration pathways to and through the country, push and pull factors, and the impact of civil war on human movement.

Top Ten

December 14, 2018

Intensifying Focus on Migrant Returns Takes a More Global Stage

Questions of how, when, and under what conditions migrants and asylum seekers can be returned to their origin countries have featured prominently in international discussions of migration in 2018. Crucially, so too has an increased interest on the part of both destination and origin countries in making reintegration assistance more effective to help ensure that return is sustainable.

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Video, Audio

January 14, 2013

A Bleak Winter: Providing Needed Aid to Those Fleeing Conflict in Syria

A delegation of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) visited Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq in late November to discuss the humanitarian crisis with refugees, officials from host and donor governments, representatives of international humanitarian organizations and local nongovernmental agencies; and to get a firsthand look at the work of IRC partners and staff who are directly involved in providing assistance to the refugees and to Syrians trapped inside the country.

Video, Audio

July 11, 2012

MPI/IOM Panel Discussion and Asia-Pacific Launch of Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development

A discussion with Dr. Noppawan Tanpipat, Vice President, National Science and Technology Development Agency; Frank Laczko, Head, Migration Research Division, IOM; Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias, Regional Research Officer, IOM, and Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute (MPI); and Kathleen Newland, Director of Migrants, Migration, and Development, Migration Policy Institute (MPI).

Video, Audio

June 26, 2012

Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development

This discussion highlights the best practices and experiences of different countries in engaging and maximizing the contributions that diasporas can and do make to the development of their country of origin, and more broadly the experience of policymakers in both sending and receiving countries and the related challenges and opportunities they face.

Video

November 30, 2010

Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy

Over the past year, MPI has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to examine how diasporas contribute to – or detract from - development efforts in their countries of origin. MPI and USAID have published an edited volume of the research. Please join us for the release of the book where speakers will discuss new thinking on the role of diaspora engagement in U.S. foreign and development policy.

Video, Audio

June 9, 2010

Discussion on Possible Solutions for Refugees and IDPs

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees T. Alexander Aleinikoff offers remarks on durable solutions for the refugee protection system as part of MPI's Leadership Visions Series.

Recent Activity

Articles

October 18, 2018

After Revolution, Tunisian Migration Governance Has Changed. Has EU Policy?

In the face of an uptick in unauthorized arrivals in Italy from Tunisia in 2017, the European Union dusted off earlier policy proposals such as funding to increase Tunisia’s border-control capabilities and the creation of disembarkation platforms. This article explores why contemporary developments, including a fragile Tunisian political system, suggest the need for a different approach.

Articles

September 6, 2018

When Disaster Strikes: Responding to Migrants Caught in Crises

Migrants displaced by crisis do not benefit from international protection the way that refugees do. This article examines the experiences of labor migrants amid manmade and natural disasters in the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Lebanon, Libya, South Africa, and Thailand, as well as stakeholder responses. Research demonstrates the agency and resilience of migrants, who develop flexible solutions in the face of crisis.

Articles

August 15, 2018

Connecting Across Nationalities: Inter-Ethnic Relationships in a Kuwaiti Workplace

In Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, migrants make up a significant share of the private-sector workforce. While mainstream narratives commonly focus on the exploitation and abuse some of these migrant workers experience, their lives and relationships with the native born are much more complex and less unequal than is often perceived, as this article explores.

Articles

August 8, 2018

Egypt: Migration and Diaspora Politics in an Emerging Transit Country

From being a source of labor emigration to the Gulf region to a destination for refugees from Syria, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere, Egypt has long experienced different forms of mobility. This article, which profiles the trends and policies that have shaped Egypt's migration history, focuses on its long-standing use of migration as a soft-power tool to achieve its foreign policy aims and as a safety valve for political discontent.

Commentaries

June 2018

Europe Pushes to Outsource Asylum, Again

European leaders have settled on a recurring proposition to address the ongoing political crisis on migration: the creation of asylum processing centers beyond EU borders. The plans championed by various EU leaders are diverse, the details fuzzy. What they have in common is a near-universal focus on shifting responsibility for dealing with refugees and migrants upstream, as this commentary examines.

Reports

November 2020

Immigration Data Matters

This useful online guide links users directly to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. The easy-to-use guide includes more than 250 data resources compiled by governmental and nongovernmental sources, covering topics ranging from population stock and flow numbers to statistics on enforcement, public opinion, religious affiliation, and much more.

Articles

January 10, 2018

Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States

In 2016, nearly 1.2 million immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region lived in the United States. MENA immigration has picked up in recent decades, owing to war and worsening economic prospects. This article offers the latest data on the MENA population in the United States, which is more likely to come via humanitarian routes and less likely via family reunification than the foreign-born population overall.

Articles

December 18, 2017

European Leaders Pursue Migration Deals with North African Countries, Sparking Concerns about Human Costs

European leaders in 2017 pursued migration partnerships with North African countries, seeking to stem maritime arrivals across the Mediterranean. Italy struck a deal with Libya to provide support in cracking down on illegal migration and smugglers, while Germany signed cooperation agreements with Egypt and Tunisia. Meanwhile, widespread reports of migrant abuse in Libya are prompting questions about the limitations and human costs of these partnerships.

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