Migrant aspirations and attitudes

EUMAGINE is a collaborative European research project aimed at investigating the impact of perceptions of human rights and democracy on migration aspirations and decisions. Project description The EUMAGINE project aims to study how Europe is perceived from outside the EU, and how these perceptions affect migration aspirations and decisions. The project focuses on how people’s perceptions on democracy and human rights – in relation to their regions and countries of origin as well as places abroad – affect their perceptions on and attitudes to migration. We are also interested in investigating how perceptions on human rights and democracy interact with other determinants of migration aspirations, to what extent migration is perceived as a valuable life project, and how potential migrants compare Europe to other migration destinations. EUMAGINE studies migration-related perceptions among people aged 18-39 in four countries of origin and transit: Morocco, Senegal, Turkey and Ukraine. Conceptual framework The theoretical starting point for the project is two-fold: First, we assume that different types of discourses on human rights and democracy influence how individuals in countries of origin and transit perceive issues of human rights and democracy. Secondly, we expect that individuals’ perceptions in turn influence their migratory aspirations and decisions. The EUMAGINE project explores two types of imaginations: “migratory imaginations” and “geographical imaginations.” The term “migratory imaginations” refers to people’s attitude to migration as a valuable life project. Migration-related perceptions and aspirations develop within a specific cultural, political-juridical and economic setting, known as the “emigration environment.” Migration aspirations are linked with socially and culturally constructed perceptions. These include ideas and meanings attached to the migration project, subjective images of one’s current environment, and thoughts about potential destinations. We assume that perceptions on human rights and democracy have an impact on what Massey (1998) has termed “cultures of emigration,” where migration becomes deeply rooted into people’s behavioral repertoires. By “geographical imaginations” we refer to the meanings and images that make up people’s subjective conception of particular places, including Europe. We assume that migratory and geographical imaginations are influenced by different types of discourses: macro-level discourses (e.g. from policy and media sources) and meso-level discourses, (e.g. disseminated through popular culture and social networks). We also expect migratory and geographical imaginations to be shaped by individual-level factors, such as gender or age. Research questions The project is informed by five overarching research questions: 1) How are human rights and democracy related to imaginations in migrant sending countries constructed? 2) How are perceptions on human rights, democracy, migration and possible destination countries affected by various factors? 3) How do perceptions on human rights and democracy and ‘geographical imaginations’ relate to migration aspirations and migration? 4) How to develop a better informed migration policy, taking into account human rights and democracy as important migration determinants? 5) How to contribute to local capacity building in source countries, in order to prepare the ground for locally based research initiatives in the future? Methodology The project systematically analyzes migration aspirations and decisions, following a case-study approach: it compares and contrasts a diversity of important international emigration countries; various types of regions within these countries; several modes of migration; various types of influential discourses; and different profiles of potential migrants. This allows the project to make analytical generalizations about how migration-related perceptions, aspirations and decisions are formed. EUMAGINE has a multidisciplinary approach and combines the varied disciplinary background of its researchers: sociology, law, anthropology, economics, human geography and political science. The field research follows a mixed-method approach with three main methodological components: 1) ethnographic fieldwork in the community, 2) a large-scale quantitative survey, and 3) semi-structured qualitative interviews with selected survey respondents, directed by an interview guide. The research uses between- as well as within-method triangulation. Between-method triangulation is reached through combining qualitative as well as quantitative research methodologies. For within-method triangulation, we use two types of qualitative research, namely in-depth interviews and observation in communities. In each country, fieldwork is undertaken in four diverse regions, selected on the basis of the following model: 1) An area characterized by high emigration rates; 2) A second, comparable socio-economic area with low emigration; 3) A comparable area with a strong immigration history; and 4) A location with a specific human rights situation.

L’objectif du projet NIMIK est d’identifier l’émergence de nouveaux phénomènes migratoires à partir d’enquêtes sur la région de Kayes. La mobilité vers d’autres pays d’Afrique et d’autres destinations, notamment l’Europe, depuis cette région a fait l’objet de nombreux travaux dont il s’agira de faire un bilan critique. Ces travaux permettent d’approcher les phénomènes migratoires avec une profondeur historique particulière, et on s’attachera à déceler à partir de ce terrain singulier les changements en cours. Sur une durée de deux ans, le projet réunit une équipe d’une dizaine de chercheuses et de chercheurs, économistes, statisticiens, géographes, sociologistes et anthropologues, basés en France et au Mali. La pluridisciplinarité permettra de réfléchir à l’articulation des motivations sociales, économiques, politiques et climatiques dans les projets de départ et, éventuellement, de retours. Le projet NIMIK est structuré autour de trois thèmes. Le premier coordonné par Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (IRD, UMR DIAL), a pour objet de dresser un bilan de la dynamique actuelle des migrations au Mali, notamment en matière de genre et d’étudier les aspirations nouvelles à migrer. Avec notamment l’appui de Björn Nilsson (économiste, post-doc), cet axe mobilisera des enquêtes statistiques existantes et mettra en place une enquête originale auprès de jeunes maliens sur leurs aspirations au départ. Le deuxième est coordonné par Nehara Feldman (anthropologue, Université de Picardie) associée à Aïssatou Mbodj-Pouye (anthropologue, CNRS IMAF, Paris et Point Sud, Bamako) et Joanne Le Bars (géographe, post-doc) ; il examinera les dynamiques familiales liées à la migration et s’intéressera à l’émergence possible de nouvelles configurations migratoires, notamment la migration autonome des femmes. Le troisième, coordonné par Stéphanie Lima (LMI Movida et Université de Toulouse) et auquel est associée Hawa Coulibaly (géographe, post-doc, LMI MACOTER et UMR CESSMA), étudie les interrelations entre les migrations internationales et la gouvernance locale dans la région de Kayes. Outre les trois post-doctorants cités, seront impliqués dans le projet un doctorant du LMI MACOTER, deux étudiants boursiers de Point Sud, Bamako, Mariam Sissoko et Mbaré Fofana et une étudiante en master de l’Université de Picardie, Nassima Guilal.

"(1) Aspirations: In the absence of reliable, internationally available migration flow data necessary for statistical forecasting, policymakers increasingly turn to survey data on emigration intentions to evaluate future migration trends. The important assumption – i.e. that there is a measurable and systematic relationship between the intention to migrate and actual migration – has not been firmly established at the international level. In a first step, we examine the association between estimated population averages of emigration intentions and official migration flow data based on data for more than 160 countries. First results show a strong association between emigration intentions and recorded bilateral flows to industrialized countries, as well as between intentions and aggregated out-migration. The results provide policymakers with a reliability assessment of survey data on emigration intentions and encourage future attempts to incorporate survey data in formal statistical migration forecasting models. (2) Policies: Furthermore, we want to explore to what extent migrants consciously decide to migrate to countries that allow them to improve their economic situation taking into account the difficulties to migrate to this country. In particular, we would like to know how the difficulty to immigrate into a country prevents potential migrants from moving to this country. Might it be that migrants decide to move to more liberal countries to increase the chances to be accepted? We already know that migration flows increase when the destination country is economically more attractive (Borjas 1989; Hatton and Williamson 2003) and decrease when immigration policies are more restrictive (Helbling and Leblang 2018). These effects are to some extent due to rejections during the migration processes when for example visa applications are declined or people are not allowed to enter a country when they arrive at the border. (3) Corruption: Eventually, besides immigration policies in potential destination countries, the formation and subsequent materialization of migration aspirations is determined by various factors in the country of residence. However, there is surprisingly little empirical evidence on factors outside the pure economic sphere. For instance, the link between corruption and emigration has received growing attention. Until now, the evidence claiming a strong relationship relies on individual case studies and correlational analysis which severely limits generalizability. In our study, we apply quasi-experimental methods including instrumental variables and propensity score matching to global survey data on 130 countries over 6 years, covering almost 600’000 individual respondents. We find support for the notion that corruption – systematically and strongly - induces emigration plans across countries, across various model specifications and estimation methods. Strengthening causal claims about the link between corruption and emigration is important for further research in this field. Results are also relevant for policy-makers exploring options to address irregular migration in the context of development and trade agreements. "

Die Art und Weise wie Migrationsströme und die Integration vonMigranten reguliert werden ist zu einem zentralen Gegenstandöffentlicher und akademischer Debatten geworden. Während es vielForschung zur Frage gibt wie viele Migranten in ein Land gelassenwerden sollen, wissen wir noch relativ wenig darüber wie spezifischeRegulierungen von BürgerInnen wahrgenommen werden und wie sichdiese Regulierungen auf ihre Einstellungen und ihr Verhalten undschlussendlich auf die Akzeptanz von Immigranten auswirken. Zieldieses Projekts ist es, evidenzbasierte Antworten auf folgende Fragezu finden: Was sind die Folgen von Immigrations-, Integrations- undEinbürgerungspolitik auf die Einstellungen und das Verhaltengegenüber Immigranten. Um Antworten auf diese Fragen zu finden,werden zwei Umfragen mit verschiedenen Umfrageexperimenten in Deutschland durchgeführt. Die Experimente erlauben uns, denkausalen Einfluss von Policies auf Einstellungen und Verhalten insystematischerer Weise zu untersuchen. Um diese Policyeffektegenauer zu untersuchen, werden die befragten Personen mitUmfragevignetten konfrontiert. Um die rationalen Interessen vonBürgerInnen besser zu verstehen, werden die Policyeinflüsse inAbhängigkeit der Akzeptanz zu diesen Regulierungen gemessen.Darüber hinaus untersuchen wir, ob diese Effekte davon beeinflusstwerden, ob sich durch die Regulierungen der Status Quo für diebefragten BürgerInnen verändert.

Das Projekt untersucht den Prozess der Partnerschaftsbildung von neu angekommenen (männlichen) Einwanderern im Kontext ungleicher Geschlechterverteilung und ausgeprägter kultureller und sozialer Distanz der Neuankömmlinge zur autochthonen Mehrheitsbevölkerung der Gastländer. Dabei bezieht es beide Perspektiven ein, d. h. es wird das Zusammenspiel zwischen (subjektiven) Einstellungen in der Mehrheitsbevölkerung der Aufnahmegesellschaft und den individuellen Präferenzen und Einschränkungen der Einwanderer untersucht. Da transnationale Ehen bei Zuwanderern, insbesondere Muslimen, häufig vorkommen, ist diese Art der Partnerwahl für das Projekt von besonderem Interesse. Auf Basis vorhandener Daten zu früheren Migrantenkohorten sollen die Integrationsaussichten von Zuwanderern, ihren Partnern und deren Nachkommen in transnationalen, intraethnischen und interethnischen Ehen in der strukturellen, sozialen und kulturellen Dimension verglichen werden.