Can European foreign aid motivate people to stay in Africa? The root causes policy debate and irregular migration

Motivation

In European policy debate, conflict, economic crisis, lack of development, population growth, and climate change are often seen as the root causes of migration from Africa. To deter irregular migration to Europe, aid has thus been directed towards these perceived causes. This seems, however, not to deter irregular migration.

Purpose

We explore the discrepancy between the official discourse of root causes and insights from research on migration decisions; and how discourse and evidence relate to aid. We ask what kind of policy change is needed if aid is possibly used to influence irregular migration. We focus on the motivations and drivers of migration and how development co-operation may influence these.

Methods and approach

Considering African migration to Europe, we examine the official European discourse on root causes of irregular migration, highlight recent developments in the academic understanding of migration aspirations and drivers, and investigate various attempts to analyse the impact of foreign aid on assumed “root causes” and migration.

Findings

Migration is influenced by drivers that differ according to the specific context in which potential migrants decide to migrate or not. Aid to influence migration must be thoroughly adapted to the circumstances of potential migrants. Addressing so-called root causes may be irrelevant to many potential migrants and will require long-term change to have any impact. It may even increase migration in the short term. Foreign aid that adopts a blueprint regardless of context is unlikely to deter irregular migration in the short or medium term.

Policy implications

If irregular African migration to Europe is to be deterred through development co-operation, European policy-makers and development practitioners need to elaborate and differentiate between aid-supported activities through careful understanding of the migration dynamics specific to individual localities and societies.