Ibrahim Awad (Director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies in the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University of Cairo)

Date: 25th of April 2019

Time: 18:30 - 20:30

Place: IEMed (Carrer Girona, 20, Barcelona)

Title: (In)stability and Migration from North Africa.

Abstract: The presentation will be about migration from North Africa and within it in conditions of political stability and instability. It will posit that in conditions of stability, socioeconomic factors determine migration flows from North African countries on the southern rim of the Mediterranean. These factors include labour market outcomes as expressed in unemployment, underemployment and employment in the informal economy as well as in terms and conditions of employment. In conditions of instability, political factors supplant socioeconomic ones as main determinants of migration. Stability is understood as the perpetuation of existing political and economic conditions. Instability is considered turmoil that encompasses uprisings, revolutions, civil strives, terrorism and wars. Instability can affect North African countries as well as countries of destination of North African migration.

In conditions of stability, migration from North African countries, determined by socioeconomic factors, will continue in comparable magnitudes to that of recent years. It is predictable and reduced in numbers. Instability may cause migration flows from North Africa to be larger than usual and to change directions. These flows are not predictable.  Migration and the socioeconomic factors determining it in conditions of stability will be reviewed. And potential factors of instability in the migration systems in which the North African countries are inserted will be explored in the light of past experience. The presentation will focus on North African migration in the Euro-Mediterranean region but will also refer to migration to other destinations.     

Bio: Professor of Global Affairs and Director, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, at the American University in Cairo. He holds a BA degree in political science from Cairo University and a PhD degree in political science from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland. He has worked for the League of Arab States, the United Nations and the International Labour Organization, holding positions of Secretary of the Commission, UN-ESCWA, Director, ILO Sub-regional Office for North Africa and Director, ILO International Migration Programme. His research interests encompass international migration; refugees; Euro-Mediterranean relations; international organization; global governance; political transitions in the Middle East and North Africa; and human rights. His recent publications include: “The Challenge of Global Governance in the Sustainable Development Agenda”; The Multiple Levels of Governance of International Migration: Understanding Disparities and Disorder; “ Egyptian Irregular Migration in the GCC Countries”; “Towards a Joint Approach to Migration and Asylum in the Euro-Mediterranean Space”; “The Making and Unmaking of the 2012 Constitution in Egypt”, in North Africa: from Status Quo to (R)evolution; “Labour Migration Governance in Times of Political Transition: A Comparative Analysis of Egypt and Tunisia”; “Population Movements in the Aftermath of the Arab Awakening: The Syrian Refugee Crisis between Regional Factors and State Interest”; “Breaking Out of Authoritarianism : 18 months of political transition in Egypt”; “International Migration in Africa”.

Recommended Readings:

• Awad, Ibrahim, and Hedayat Selim, “Labour Migration Governance in Transition: Continuity and Change in Egypt and Tunisia (2011-2015)” Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo.
• Boubakri, Hassan, Migrations et asile en Tunisie: conditions des migrants et des réfugiés et politiques migratoires. Cairo, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo, 2015.
• De Bel-Air, Françoise. “Migration Profile : Egypt.” Cadmus Home, 1 Jan. 1970, cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/39224.
• Fargues, Philippe, International Migration and the Nation State in Arab Countries, Migration Policy Centre, apps.eui.eu/Personal/fargues/Documents/MELG_005_01_01Fargues.pdf
• Khachani, Mohamed, La politique d’émigration au Maroc. N.p., n.d (Unpublished paper).
• IOM, Migrants caught in crisis in Libya: the IOM experience. Geneva, International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2012, page 15.
• Zohry, Ayman, The migration patterns of Egyptian migration to Italy and France.
• CARIM- RR- 2009/17. Robert Schuman Centre for Adavanced Studies. San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), European University Institute, page 8.

For the upcoming GRITIM-UPF seminars, please visit this link.