African migrants become easy target for racist violence in Libya
Who cares about African migrants in Libya? Now that Gaddafi is killing and bombing his own people, Western countries and companies are trying to get their citizens out of Libya. Also Egypt and Turkey...
View ArticleSpeculations on a ‘biblical exodus’ from Libya are wrong and dangerous
In the face of continuing violence in Libya, it is striking to see how the attention of some European governments is already shifting from the unprecedented suffering of people in Libya to selfish...
View ArticleThe real refugee crisis: African migrants trapped in Libya
Where are the hundreds of thousands of refugees that were predicted to arrive on European shores as a result of the Libyan revolt? They have not come. Most migrants simply want to go home. While most...
View ArticleJust kill your own people: The world will turn a blind eye
Now that the Gaddafi forces seem to push eastward and that the international powers are apparently reluctant to intervene in Libya, he might well regain control of the entire country or at least all...
View ArticleWill Gaddafi be able to unleash a migration invasion?
In the wake of the unexpected UN Security Council resolution and subsequent attacks by French, British and US forces against Libyan military goals, Gaddafi has today announced that he stops cooperation...
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The 1.5 million migrants lie: How Gaddafi, Europe and Frontex invented the...
In previous posts I have tried debunk the popular myth that Europe should brace itself for a migration invasion or "Biblical exodus" following the popular uprising and violence in Libya. The idea is...
View ArticleLampedusa and the construction of a "human tsunami"
In my previous blogpost, I argued how Gaddafi, European politicians and agencies like Frontex have "invented" the illusionary threat of an imminent immigrant invasion from Africa to serve their own...
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Europe’s tiny refugee burden: Putting the Libyan migration crisis into...
Anybody believing that the Libyan crisis would create a “biblical exodus” towards Europe or the fear-mongering by Frontex and European politicians that up to 1.5 million migrants may soon arrive on...
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Development leads to more migration
It is often said that the only way to reduce migration to Europe, North America and other wealthy countries is to stimulate development in poor countries.This sounds very logical. But it is a myth. In...
View ArticleThe African invasion that did not happen. Why and how?
Do you remember? Back in February and March of this year, European politicians and the media were sowing fear that Europe was about to face a deluge of African migrants in response to the Arab Spring....
View ArticleAfrica Paradise
Imagine a world in which young Europeans try to desperately reach Africa. An interesting article in Slate Africa speculated on this scenario. It referred to the film Africa Paradise by the Beninese...
View ArticleThe only way to reduce immigration is to wreck the economy
There is increasing evidence that migration from Mexico to the United States is declining fast, and that, in fact, quite some migrants are returning. Politicians are usually quick to claim that such...
View ArticleThe Arab Spring and Migration
Last Tuesday, I attended a workshop hosted by the Refugees Studies Centre and the International Migration Institute of the University of Oxford on the consequences of the ‘Arab Spring’ on human...
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Migration… it’s the economy, stupid!
Politicians like to talk about migration in water metaphors. Migrants always seem to come in flows, waves or tides. They also like to give voters the image that they are “in control” of immigration;...
View ArticleEuropeans looking for greener pastures in Africa
Who could have thought this just a few years ago? With the economic crisis hitting many countries hard, and unemployment soaring, Europeans have started emigrating again in large numbers. While the...
View ArticleGreece is the new Islam
Leading up to national elections in the Netherlands, which took place on 12 September, I have been closely following the debates between party leaders. The most striking observation I made is the...
View ArticleGreece: The Syrian migration invasion
Last Monday, Greek authorities announced that Greece should fortify itself against a massive wave of illegal migrants from Syria. "A migration wave is starting to show, it has not yet reached Greece in...
View ArticleIOM's dubious mission in Morocco
This week, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched an appeal to raise 620,000 euros to "help desperate African migrants, including unaccompanied children, return home from Morocco"....
View ArticleHow voluntary is voluntary return?
Governments and international organizations often stress how voluntary the return of involuntary migrants is. This begs an important question: what is voluntary? If you are an undocumented migrant from...
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Decline in UK immigration is exaggerated and signals broader crisis
Last month, the British government celebrated the news that net migration to the UK has fallen by a third, according to data released by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). Net migration was...
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