E.g., 04/23/2024
E.g., 04/23/2024
Middle East & North Africa

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.

Migrant workers on a farm in Jordan
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

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Policy Briefs
February 2021
Rewiring Migrant Returns and Reintegration after the COVID-19 Shock
By  Camille Le Coz and Kathleen Newland
A family from Syria walks through the town of Wächtersbach, Germany, where they now live.
Articles
January 7, 2021
Faith and Mental Health Help Shape the Integration of Muslim Refugees in Germany
By Diana Rayes
How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration?
Reports
December 2020
How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration?
By  Robert McLeman
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Multimedia
October 21, 2020
Human Smuggling in an Age of Pandemic
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Articles
October 23, 2020
Climate Impacts as Drivers of Migration
By Alex de Sherbinin
Migrants aboard a rubber vessel are rescued in the Mediterranean
Articles
August 6, 2020
Once a Destination for Migrants, Post-Gaddafi Libya Has Gone from Transit Route to Containment
By Katie Kuschminder
A gathering in Tel Aviv for asylum seeker rights
Articles
June 5, 2020
A Warm Welcome for Some: Israel Embraces Immigration of Jewish Diaspora, Sharply Restricts Labor Migrants and Asylum Seekers
By Rebeca Raijman
Jamal Khashoggi
Articles
August 22, 2019
A Tightening Grip Abroad: Authoritarian Regimes Target Their Emigrant and Diaspora Communities
By Gerasimos Tsourapas

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Books
April 2012
Comment associer les diasporas au développement: Manuel a l’usage des decideurs et praticiens dans les pays d’origine et d’accueil
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Kathleen Newland
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Reports
September 2011
Climate Change and Migration Dynamics
By  Kathleen Newland
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Reports
July 2011
Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
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Reports
July 2011
Running in Circles: Progress and Challenges in Regulating Recruitment of Filipino and Sri Lankan Labor Migrants to Jordan (In Arabic)
By  Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza
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Reports
June 2011
The Role of Civil Society in EU Migration Policy: Perspectives on the European Union's Engagement in its Neighborhood
By  Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
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Reports
November 2010
Voice After Exit: Diaspora Advocacy
By  Kathleen Newland
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Books
November 2010
Diasporas: New Partners in Global Development Policy
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Reports
October 2010
Mobilizing Diaspora Entrepreneurship for Development
By  Kathleen Newland

Pages

Famine Memorial in Dublin
Feature
November 15, 2018
The Emerging Crisis: Is Famine Returning as a Major Driver of Migration?

Despite long study of famine, there is a remarkable lack of research about the linkages between mass starvation and migration. Among the unanswered questions: Does migration mitigate starvation or worsen it? With famines returning, most notably in war-torn Yemen, after a period of decline, the need for knowledge is essential. This article examines the causes and migration patterns of great famines from the 19th century onward.

A port in Mahdia, Tunisia.
Feature
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.

Stranded migrant during crisis
Feature
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.

Construction site in Kuwait
Feature
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.

Egyptians in Los Angeles
Profile
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.

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Video, Audio
June 3, 2010

Migration's Middlemen: Regulating Recruitment Agencies in the Philippines-UAE Corridor

This discussion examines the overseas labor deployment system created by the Philippines, one of the largest and most sophisticated of its type, providing a framework for regulating recruitment.

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Recent Activity

Reports
March 2022

The Challenge of Coordinating Border Management Assistance between Europe and the Maghreb

To address cross-border challenges, the European Union and its Member States have increasingly partnered with neighboring countries, with those in the Maghreb region of northern Africa playing a particularly important role. This report examines the border security situation in the Maghreb and European efforts to work with Maghrebi partners to strengthen border management. It finds a mismatch in priorities stymies cooperation.

Articles
January 13, 2022

Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States

Migration from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to the United States doubled between 2000 and 2019, yet these immigrants represented less than 3 percent of the overall U.S. foreign-born population as of 2019. MENA immigrants are more likely than other immigrants to be English proficient, have a college degree, and work in management, business, science, and arts occupations.

Expert Q&A, Audio
December 10, 2021

When Climate Change Comes to Refugee Settings

For this episode of Changing Climate, Changing Migration, we speak with Joan Rosenhauer, the executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, about how natural disasters and other environmental harms affect her organization’s work and its faith-based mission.

Reports
October 2021

How We Talk about Migration: The Link between Migration Narratives, Policy, and Power

As migration levels rise, societies are facing competing narratives about immigration. Often, there is dissonance between top-down narratives from political leaders and bottom-up narratives spread through personal and media engagement. This report explores positive and negative narratives around migration in Colombia, Lebanon, Morocco, Sweden, and the United States to determine the contexts in which some stick while others fail.

Expert Q&A, Audio
October 12, 2021

Impacts of Extreme Heat: Global Warming and Migration

Global warming and extreme heat are behind many of the phenomena linked to climate change. Hotter weather also has an impact on migration and on migrants, ranging from destinations such as the Middle East to parts of the United States. In recent years, there has been more attention paid to cases of migrant workers dying from the heat. In this episode of our Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast, we speak with Tord Kjellstrom, a physician and researcher who has closely studied the relationship between extreme heat and population health, about what extreme heat means for migrants.

Video, Audio, Webinars
August 24, 2021

Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan: How Could Europe Respond to Growing Displacement?

In light of the dangers facing millions of Afghans, this discussion focused on what European countries should prioritize to address the immediate needs of displaced populations; how to start planning for longer-term assistance to countries in the region who are hosting Afghan refugees; implications for partnerships with governments in the region; and what safe pathways other countries have opened in recent days to evacuate Afghans at risk.

Reports
July 2021

Future Scenarios for Global Mobility in the Shadow of Pandemic

More than 18 months since the first COVID-19-related travel restrictions were introduced, the pandemic’s effects on global mobility are still unfolding. With vaccination campaigns picking up speed in some places while only beginning in others, and new variants of the virus emerging, the timeline for restarting international migration and travel remains uncertain. This report explores how different policy choices could result in very different mobility realities.

Articles
July 15, 2021

Immigrants from Iran in the United States

The United States is home to the largest population of Iranian migrants in the world. More than half of Iranian immigrants in the United States live in California. This article explores key details of this immigrant population, which is older, more highly educated, and has significantly higher median household incomes than the U.S.-born and overall immigrant populations.

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