Middle East & North Africa
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Recent Activity
The Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) and Europe appear to be an ideal demographic match: the former has a large supply of young, active workers, and the latter has a shortage of the youthful, skilled or unskilled labor it needs to sustain its economic competitiveness. MENA is the source of 20 million first-generation migrants, half of them now living in another MENA country and most of the rest in Europe. The region also hosts around the same number within its borders. In addition, the size of MENA’s working-age population will continue to rise sharply in the next two decades while the corresponding segment of the population in Europe will soon start to decline.
This report provides a global look at circular migration experiences, depicts various governments’ attempts at creating circular migration, evaluates the economic costs and benefits of circular migration for sending and receiving countries, identifies components of effective bilateral agreements, and reviews outcomes governments might realistically expect from their circular migration policies.
This brief takes a look at hometown associations (HTAs)—immigrant organizations based on a common hometown—and their often overlooked function as integration intermediaries in their country of destination.
More than half of all the states in the world, countries of immigration as well as emigration, now tolerate some form or element of dual citizenship. This report goes beyond statistical trends to the heart of these changes and how best to think through the policy answers.
The situation in Iraq remains extremely precarious for civilians, with additional thousands being displaced by violence and persecution even as refuge becomes harder to find – either internally or in neighboring countries. This report looks at the refugee situation in the country.
Daily news reports frequently show the latest violence in Iraq, but it was not until 2007 that the stories of displaced Iraqis — and their fast-growing numbers — became more desperate and more widely known.
Over 2 million Iraqis are internally displaced and hundreds of thousands have fled to neighboring countries. Andrew Harper reports on the latest developments, including Syria's decision to impose visa requirements.