"It's About the Economy, Stupid. Hearing from Migrants in Transit Countries."

• In Event: Privileging Migrants' Voices

Abstract

What are the experiences of migrants as they seek a new life in Europe or in the US? This paper uses a novel survey data to showcase the difference between what political scientists believe of migrant experiences and how migrants themselves describe their experiences during the journey. When it comes to migration debates, states often set the parameters that influence academic debate in turn. States determine the categories of different migrants. These categories of economic versus forced migration do not only define the lived experiences of migrants. They also encourage researchers to test theories of drivers of migration within these parameters. States also criminalize efforts of smugglers to help migrants, which helped develop the image of the smuggler as a violent actor. I utilize surveys of migrants to show how the academic and policy debates regarding migration are disconnected from migrant experiences. The survey data consists of over a thousand respondents collected by the Mixed Migration Institute from 24 West African countries. The responses are collected in three transit countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The survey data was collected in the first quarter of 2020, before the pandemic severely limited travel. What is particularly novel about this dataset is that it interviews migrants in transit: much of the research focuses on interviewing prospective migrants, or migrants, who have arrived. Because of the challenges associated with finding them, migrants in transit are rarely surveyed. The data gives insight why migrants leave, why they choose their destinations, the extent to which they rely on smugglers, and how they choose the smuggler. The findings challenge both current understanding or migration, and current policy solutions. Most migrants perceive themselves as economic migrants. The extent to which economic decline informs migrants’ decisions to leave plays a crucial role in migration policy: economic migrants do not have a legal route to immigration. In general, the role of the economy as a reason for flight is downplayed within the political science literature (Davenport et al 2003; Moore, Shellman 2004 and 2007; Neumayer 2005; Mayda 2010). Another example is how states frame smuggling efforts as criminal enterprises, which academic literature is just starting to engage. This dataset challenges the predominant narrative of smugglers as predatory, violent actors. The presentation of this survey data will inform current debates with regards to migration, and raise new academic questions and policy responses.

Author

• Natalie Chwalisz, American University