RSS - Middle East & North Africa
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Sudan is experiencing the world's largest displacement crisis, yet global attention and funding remain critically low. In this episode of World of Migration, host John Thon Majok speaks with Margaret Monyani of the OLAM Africa Research Institute about why Sudan's crisis is overlooked, the regional spillover effects, and what an effective international response would require.
Although the Syrian immigrant population in the United States roughly doubled following the outbreak of Syria's civil war, it remains relatively small compared to both the overall U.S. immigrant population and Syrian emigration globally. This article compiles key statistics about this group.
The fall of Syria’s Assad regime has raised questions in high-income countries about when displaced Syrians will return home. Similar conversations are underway about the nearly 7 million displaced Ukrainians. This report examines the complexity of facilitating returns without imperiling reconstruction, fueling additional displacement, and uprooting well-integrated workers and members of host societies.
Significant shares of Syrians and Turks who have sought asylum in the European Union are of Kurdish background. How will migration be affected by the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and Turkey’s 2025 ceasefire with PKK militants? This article examines the history and context of migration dynamics involving the Kurds, and prospects for change.
Featuring a study on the role that counselling and reintegration programs can play in shaping migrants' return decisions, this webinar examines how timing of such interventions, counselling approaches, and collaboration with trusted origin-country partners can help make these programs more effective.
Some countries with large diasporas have sought to maximize incoming remittances and channel them into particular sectors. Diaspora engagement policies are not always successful, but research shows that they are generally accompanied by increased remittance sending. This article explains the connection and explores some of the factors affecting remittance levels.
Many migrant-origin countries are developing policies and institutional structures to support their returning nationals, driven by safety concerns, emergencies, and in some cases pressure from destination countries. This policy brief examines these developments and identifies opportunities to better align local services, national policies, and donor support to strengthen international cooperation on migrant returns and reintegration.
Los países latinoamericanos han respondido a la migración de Venezuela y otros países con diversas medidas de protección temporal y regularización. A medida que los países desarrollan enfoques de segunda generación, es necesario equilibrar la flexibilidad y la coherencia. Este informe compara los elementos clave del diseño de las políticas de protección temporal y regularización dentro y fuera de la región, destacando lecciones para los responsables de las políticas públicas en América Latina.
Latin American countries have responded to migration from Venezuela and beyond with a range of temporary protection and regularization measures. Amid protracted displacement, countries need to develop second-generation approaches that balance flexibility and consistency. This report compares key design elements of protection and regularization policies in countries in and beyond the region, highlighting lessons.
Labor shortages are increasingly driving some countries to look outside their borders for workers. Can labor mobility be managed in a way that benefits workers, employers, countries of origin, and countries of destination alike? This World of Migration episode focuses on India and the implications of large-scale emigration for its economic advancement.
As Syria enters a new era with the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, the question of return of millions of Syrians who sought refuge internationally looms large. In Jordan, which has been a key host for Syrian refugees, limited numbers of Syrians have chosen to return to date. Instead, what has quietly taken shape is a fragile form of long-term integration. This article examines Jordan's response to the protracted Syrian displacement over time and prospects for the future.
Speakers from organizations that support returning migrants in Iraq, Somalia, and other fragile environments explore challenges in designing and delivering reintegration support in these settings and the role that reintegration programming can play in helping returnees rebuild their lives.
Speakers from organizations that support returning migrants in Iraq, Somalia, and other fragile environments explore challenges in designing and delivering reintegration support in these settings and the role that reintegration programming can play in helping returnees rebuild their lives.
This episode of the Changing Climate, Changing Migration podcast explores the connection between climate change, human mobility, and violence. We speak with journalist Peter Schwartzstein, author of the book The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence.
While the fall of the al-Assad regime is a seismic moment, it may be premature for sizable numbers of Syrians to return after years abroad—as some host countries want. Conditions remain unstable and returnees would face major housing shortages and limited access to jobs. Instead of returns, host countries would do well to focus for now on other priorities as regards Syria and Syrian refugees, this short read argues.
As countries in the Gulf region rewrite their immigration rules to reflect changing economic futures, they have made reforms to their oft-criticized kafala sponsorship system. But not all migrants are set to benefit equally. This article provides an overview of the reforms and the growing inclusion gap between highly skilled professionals and low-skilled migrants.
For five decades, Sahrawi refugees have been displaced from Western Sahara, which many people call "Africa’s last colony" and which the United Nations considers the world’s largest and most populous non-self-governing territory. As this article details, young Sahrawis have for decades left the isolated refugee camps to study and live abroad, but many seem increasingly inclined not to return.
Immigration to the United States from the Middle East and North Africa is longstanding and multifaceted. Compared to other immigrants, those from the Middle East and North Africa are more likely to be proficient in English, have graduated college, and be a U.S. citizen. This article provides an overview of this population, more than one-quarter of which lives in the greater New York, Detroit, or Los Angeles areas.
The international humanitarian protection system built amid the ashes of World War II has come under increasing strain, as record numbers of people flee internationally and travel farther distances. New barriers to protection in destination countries have captured public attention, but governments are also experimenting with ways to offer sanctuary, which could signal a remaking of the global system, as this article explains.
In recent decades, countries worldwide have expanded voting rights to their diasporas as well as certain resident noncitizens. Voting access in general has grown over time, as barriers based on sex, literacy, and other characteristics have fallen, and migrants' increasingly expansive rights to vote are part of that trend worldwide. This article provides a global overview of the dynamics.
