Middle East & North Africa
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This report draws from the existing body of knowledge surrounding circular migration to identify: research gaps, shortcomings of common policy routes, innovative circular migration policies, and critical considerations for policymakers seeking to design and implement positive circular migration schemes.
The border between the U.S. and Mexico and the water dividing Europe and North Africa continue to be the world's main fronts in the fight against illegal immigration.
Lebanon's 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990, forced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to flee to other countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil. Although this summer's fighting between Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and Israel lasted just over a month (July 12 to August 14), the conflict essentially wiped out 15 years of postwar reconstruction and development and displaced an estimated one million Lebanese, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Sub-Saharan Africans are increasingly migrating to North African countries, with some using the region as a point of transit to Europe and some remaining in North Africa. Hein de Haas of the University of Oxford examines the the region’s migration trends.
L'Europe du Sud connaît trop bien la migration irrégulière à partir des pays de l'Afrique du Nord comme le Maroc, l'Algérie et la Tunisie. Depuis le début des années 1990, de milliers de nord-africains ont tenté de traverser la Méditerranée afin d'atteindre l'Espagne et l'Italie.
Iran has long connected the great civilizations of Asia, the Near East and the Mediterranean. But since the Islamic Revolution, hundreds of thousands of highly skilled Iranians have emigrated while millions of refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq have entered the country. Shirin Hakimzadeh takes a detailed look at Iran's past and present migration issues.
For an increasing number of scholars, international migration has undergone a transformation particularly in the last decade or so. Although circular migration’s impact on development is far from settled, a review of the current literature suggests increasing optimism about its developmental potential.