Dossier: Barcelona +20: an Assessment Dossier Migrations in the Mediterranean Region Catherine Wihtol de Wenden toric and neighbourhood ties it has with this region Senior Research Fellow, CNRS and the complimentary demographic and economic Barcelona +20: an Assessment an Barcelona +20: Paris Institute of Political Studies (SciencesPo), Paris nature of the two areas. The gateways to Europe, i.e. Gibraltar, Melilla and Ceuta, Malta, Lampedusa, the Canary Islands and the Evros (or Maritsa) River bor- The Mediterranean Basin is one of the main migration der, where sub-Saharan Africans flock today, give arenas in the world. It is also, however, one of the the image of a Europe under siege having trouble most border-controlled areas, since it constitutes controlling its borders while attempting to involve the outer border of the European Union on its south- countries of transit, some of which have become ern side. Moreover, the EU has turned its back to mi- countries of immigration, in controlling the flows by gration from the South, because it is built on freedom making them the border guards of Europe. of movement, residence and work within the wider Over the course of twenty years, southern European Union, but closing its southern borders along the countries and the Balkans, countries of emigration 126 Mediterranean while opening its borders to the East. until the mid-1980s, have now become countries of Twenty-two states border the Mediterranean Sea. immigration, a phenomenon extending to the thresh- These can be divided into various places of exchange old of Europe, from the Maghreb to Turkey, which and confrontation: the Maghreb and Western Europe have also now become regions of immigration and on the one hand, the Balkans, Turkey and the Mashreq transit. on the other. Antiquity’s ‘sea in the middle of the Today, the Mediterranean continues to be crossed lands’ is today also the arena for some of the major by migrants. They begin along the edges of Europe: conflicts in the world, a source of strife, insecurity Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Macedonia, Turkey, and sometimes terrorism: Christians and Muslims, Ukraine, the Maghreb and Albania are at once coun- Israelis and Palestinians, Turks and Kurds, radical Is- tries of departure, transit and destination. Despite lamists in Europe and in their own countries, not to the globalisation of flows, historic, geographic and mention the many disputes between neighbours cultural proximity (languages, particularly transmitted (Macedonia, Cyprus, Western Sahara, etc). In sum, by the media) continues to explain Europe as the de- the south shore of the Mediterranean supplies the sired destination of choice. This is true of Spain, essential migration flows to the EU, which has estab- where Moroccan migrants are the second immigrant lished its border there, becoming the source of sig- nationality, Italy, where Romanians, Albanians and 2015 nificant clandestine migration that sometimes ends in Moroccans are the most numerous, Greece, where death, making this sea a vast cemetery. Albanians make up two thirds of the foreigners, and France, with Maghrebi nationals in the forefront. Various migratory configurations exist in the distribu- The Mediterranean Migratory Area tion of migration within the Euro-Mediterranean area: Paired migration countries, often associated with a Mediterranean Yearbook Europe forms a migratory area with the south shore colonial past or recruitment in years of contract of the Mediterranean. The majority of migratory flows worker growth, where a single nationality has the Med. Med. IE towards Europe are from there, considering the his- majority of its emigrants in a single host country (Al- geria/France, for instance, where over 90% of Alge- But Europe only attracts half of the migrants from the rians immigrating to Europe live in France, and Tur- south shore of the Mediterranean, since they also go key/Germany, where 70% of Turks immigrating to to Arab countries such as Libya and the Gulf States, Dossier Europe live in Germany), as well as the United States and Canada. Certain Mediterranean south shore countries are also coun- — Quasi-diasporas, characterised by a nationality tries of immigration. This is the case of Israel, Turkey, present in numerous European countries and the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Jordan. In ad- creating strong transnational economic, cultural, dition, there is an unknown number of illegal immi- religious, familial and matrimonial networks and grants or migrants in transit, including sub-Saharans links among its different groups (this is the case in the Maghreb and Sudanese in Egypt. Spain is the of the Turks in Europe, followed by the Moroc- primary destination of these migrants from the South. cans), It is the European country that has experienced the — Scattered distribution, reflecting the globalisa- greatest migration hump in the past few years. In tion of flows characterising migratory movement the mid 1980s, Southern European countries be- Assessment an Barcelona +20: to Europe since the 1990s. gan establishing immigration policies with charac- teristics that distinguish them greatly from traditional The southern Mediterranean Basin, despite the countries of immigration: progressive accession to closed borders, constitutes a region of considerable the ‘acquis communautaire,’ successive waves of le- emigration: Morocco (3.5 million emigrants), Turkey galisation, bilateral labour agreements in employ- (5.3 million), Egypt (2.7 million), Algeria (one million). ment niches previously occupied by illegal migrants. In Morocco, emigration has doubled in 11 years. On the other hand, south shore Mediterranean Diasporas, formerly considered a threat to the sov- countries, which have emigration policies, have not ereignty of the countries of origin, have today be- established immigration policies apart from penalis- come highly solicited because they can allow ing illegal immigration. those countries to exercise an influence on the Since 1985, Europe has strengthened its outer bor- 127 host countries: acceptance of dual nationality, for ders and opened its inner borders in the belief that instance – many European countries have opened immigration pressure from the southern Mediterra- their nationality laws to elements of jus soli over nean was over.1 A visa system was established to the course of the 1990s, whereas all the Muslim complement the programme for non-EU citizens countries operate on the principle of jus sanguinis, and suspicion increased, with the Europeanisation with perpetual allegiance to the country of birth, as of border controls as of the 1990s. Walls were built, is the case in Morocco; acceptance by the country as in Ceuta, on the initiative of the European Union, of origin of the political rights exercised by non-EU with camps not only in countries of transit such as citizens on the local level in the host country and Morocco and Libya, but also in Malta or outlying EU sometimes even the will to grant political rights to countries. These dissuasive and repressive meas- members of a diaspora through a consular vote or ures tend to increase the random settlement of a vote in the country of origin; recognition of as- those who cannot return to their countries of origin, sociations campaigning for the conditions of their heightening migratory pressure at the threshold of compatriots, and not just friendly ones controlled Europe. Illegal immigration continues in order to re- by the country of origin; involvement of associa- imburse the cost of the trip, and casualties mount 2015 tions in local development programmes in the re- along the borders. gions of origin; and organisation of religious affairs Another challenge: Euro-Mediterranean dialogue. at a distance. Transnational networks of matrimo- Hopes were soon dashed due to the implementa- nial, commercial or entrepreneurial nature cross tion of an EU external border surveillance and anti- the Mediterranean and make the border a resource terrorism system (development aid being condition- for their exchanges. al to the capacity of countries of emigration to Mediterranean Yearbook 1 Catherine WIHTOL DE WENDEN, Faut-il ouvrir les frontières ? Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2014, 2nd edition, and Atlas des migrations dans le Med. monde, Paris, Autrement, 2012, 3rd edition. IE control illegal migration), the asymmetry of trade, Contrary to popular belief, the rise of political Islam instability in the region (dialogue dependence on has not had an impact on the demographic transi- Dossier the Middle East conflict), corruption, Islamic terror- tion, as is indeed also the case in other Islamic coun- ism and the weak appropriation of the partnership tries such as Iran.2 On the north shore of the Medi- by south shore countries. Agriculture and fishing, terranean, countries such as Italy and Spain have the only sectors producing at competitive levels entered a stage of demographic ageing, with the in the South, has run up against a protectionist EU number of children per woman at sub-replacement system. In the North, Euro-Mediterranean dialogue levels and the entrance of a growing proportion of remains far from interesting all EU Member States, the population into old age, which calls for new mi- some of them being more interested in the eastern gration sources. At the same time, emerging togeth- neighbourhood or the Nordic Union. The Barcelona er with the phenomenon of ‘de-ageing’3 (whereby Process (1995-2005) was succeeded by the Union senior citizens are in better physical and