African immigration to Europe
African immigrants in Europe are individuals residing in Europe who were born in Africa.
History
The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna in North Africa, in what is now modern-day Tripolitania, Libya. Some North Africans moved to Britain during Roman rule.Six white British men with the same very rare surname have been found to have a Y-chromosome haplogroup originating from an African male, likely dating to the 16th century or later.
Migration flows
Since the 1960s, the main source countries of migration from Africa to Europe have been Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and to a lesser extent, Egypt. This has resulted in large diasporas with origins in these countries by the end of the 20th century. In the period following the 1973 oil crisis, immigration controls in European states were tightened. The effect of this was not to reduce migration from North Africa but rather to encourage permanent settlement of previously temporary migrants and associated family migration. Much of this migration was from the Maghreb to France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. From the second half of the 1980s, the destination countries for migrants from the Maghreb broadened to include Spain and Italy, as a result of increased demand for low-skilled labour in those countries.Spain and Italy imposed visa requirements on migrants from the Maghreb in the early 1990s, and the result was an increase in irregular migration across the Mediterranean. Since 2000, the source countries of this irregular migration have grown to include sub-Saharan African states.
During 2000–2005, an estimated 440,000 people per year emigrated from Africa, most of them to Europe. According to Hein de Haas, the director of the International Migration Institute at the University of Oxford, public discourse on African migration to Europe portrays the phenomenon as an "exodus", largely composed of illegal migrants, driven by conflict and poverty. He criticises this portrayal, arguing that the illegal migrants are often well educated and able to afford the considerable cost of the journey to Europe. Migration from Africa to Europe, he argues, "is fuelled by a structural demand for cheap migrant labour in informal sectors". Most migrate on their own initiative, rather than being the victims of traffickers. Furthermore, he argues that whereas the media and popular perceptions see irregular migrants as mostly arriving by sea, most actually arrive on tourist visas or with false documentation, or enter via the Spanish enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla. He states that "the majority of irregular African migrants enter Europe legally and subsequently overstay their visas". Similarly, migration expert Stephen Castles argues that "Despite the media hysteria on the growth of African migration to Europe, actual numbers seem quite small – although there is a surprising lack of precision in the data".
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, migration from African countries to more developed states is small in comparison to overall migration worldwide. The BBC reported in 2007 that the International Organization for Migration estimates that around 4.6 million African migrants live in Europe, but that the Migration Policy Institute estimates that between 7 and 8 million illegal migrants from Africa live in the EU.
Undocumented immigration
Undocumented migration from Africa to Europe is significant. Many people from less developed African countries embark on the dangerous journey for Europe, in hopes of a better life. In parts of Africa, particularly North Africa, trafficking immigrants to Europe has become more lucrative than drug trafficking. Undocumented migration to Europe often occurs by boat via the Mediterranean Sea, or in some cases by land at the Spanish Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and has made international headlines. Many migrants risk serious injury or death during their journey to Europe and most of those whose asylum requests were unsuccessful are deported back to Africa. Libya is the major departure point for illegal migrants setting off for Europe. However, undocumented African migrants in Europe have not necessarity entered Europe through unauthorized ways. Many of them, have entered with valid visas which they have overstayed. Faced with increased exclusion by European migration policies, many African migrants are left with no option than to enter and reside illegally. As Apostolos Andrikopoulos wrote, in this context of increased hostility and legal exclusion, many African migrants "turn to kinship in search of security, stability, and predictability". Kinship and social relations provide support to unauthorized migrants to deal with the precarity of their legal status.Image:Carte des routes d'immigration africaine vers l'Europe.svg|thumb|right|Map of migration routes to North Africa and Europe from West Africa.
Between October 2013 and October 2014, the Italian government ran Operation Mare Nostrum, a naval and air operation intended to reduce unauthorized migration to Europe and the incidence of migratory ship wreckages off the coast of Lampedusa. The Italian government ceased the operation as it was judged to be unsustainable, involving a large proportion of the Italian navy. The operation was replaced by a more limited joint EU border protection operation, named Operation Triton managed by the EU border agency, Frontex. Some other European governments, including Britain's, argued that the operations such as Mare Nostrum and Triton serve to provide an "unintended pull factor" encouraging further migration.
In 2014, 170,100 illegal migrants were recorded arriving in Italy by sea, 141,484 of them leaving from Libya. Most of them came from Syria, the Horn of Africa and West Africa.
The issue returned to international headlines with a series of migrant shipwrecks, part of the 2015 Mediterranean migration crisis. The International Organization for Migration estimates suggest that between the start of 2015 and the middle of April, 21,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast and 900 migrants had died in the Mediterranean. Critics of European policy towards illegal migration in the Mediterranean argue that the cancellation of Operation Mare Nostrum failed to deter migrants and that its replacement with Triton "created the conditions for the higher death toll".
In September 2023, over 120 boats, carrying roughly 7,000 migrants from Africa–more than the total population of Lampedusa–arrived on the island within the span of 24 hours.
Drivers of migration
Research on African migration shows that movements between Africa and Europe often follow non-linear and multi-step trajectories. People frequently migrate in stages, adjusting their plans as opportunities, security conditions, or personal networks change. These decisions are also shaped by a wider migration infrastructure, including intermediaries, transport routes, and administrative systems that influence where and how people travel.Many migrants initially prefer to remain close to home, where cultural, linguistic, and social similarities make integration easier and allow them to maintain ties to family, livelihoods, and political life. Existing cross-border networks, built through earlier migration waves, also encourage movement to neighbouring countries. However, for those fleeing repression or conflict, neighbouring states may not provide sufficient safety. In such cases, moving further afield, including to Europe, can become a necessary protection strategy.
Reaching Europe does not always mean the end of mobility. Highly educated African migrants often encounter barriers to labour-market integration, such as difficulties finding work that matches their qualifications, financial insecurity, and experiences of racism. These factors sometimes prompt onward migration within Europe or a return to countries in Africa in search of better prospects and dignity.
Acquiring citizenship in a European country can serve multiple purposes. While it provides legal security and access to rights in Europe, it may also facilitate mobility back to Africa, making visits safer and enabling travel across the continent. A European passport can offer protection from political risk in the country of origin and enable migrants to sustain transnational connections.
Effects
As far as the effects on source countries in Africa, an article in The Economist describes African migration as having some positive economic benefits for the African countries of origin.As far as the impact on the destination countries in Europe, according to the BBC, there are rising numbers of crimes relating to African migration in Europe, specially Scandinavian countries, leading to opposition to immigration and the appearance of nationalist parties as the AfD, Sweden Democrats and Vox.
Thousands of migrants have died trying to cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean on their way to Europe.