Decisions to stay and migrate in Algeria, Ethiopia and Nigeria: Scoping studies for the PACES project

Résumé 0

Knowledge and understanding of people's decision to migrate is critical for policymakers' ability to developmigration policies. The EU-funded PACES project – Making migration and migration policy decisions amidstsocietal transformations focuses on two parallel research components: the factors shaping migration decision-making and the mechanisms supporting migration policies.The project will combine theoretical and empirical knowledge from several academic disciplines andmethodological paradigms to systematically investigate the interactions between migration decisions, policies,and broader social transformation. PACES will draw on data collected in Algeria, Ethiopia, Italy, Libya, Nigeria,Slovakia, and Spain to elaborate a heuristic model that identifies different constellations of conditions thatinfluence decisions to stay and migrate at various stages of individual life trajectories and migrant journeys. Thisreport presents three scoping studies carried out to examine and select the six research locations(secondary cities) in Algeria, Ethiopia and Nigeria.The scoping studies considered nine locations from which the six research areas are selected at the end of thisreport. These scoping studies were conducted for the research component, also referred to as workpackage (WP), that studies how people make decisions to stay and migrate to/in/from Algeria, Ethiopia,and Nigeria. Within this component, we explore how people’s decisions to stay and migrate are influenced bysocietal changes, individual life experiences and migration policies over time and as people move acrossdifferent locations. We pay particular attention to the role of people's perceptions of their social and personalsituation, as well as their values and expectations, as determining factors in decisions to stay or emigrate.1Algeria, Ethiopia and Nigeria are countries of origin, transit and destination, which makes it possible to studythe factors that determine decisions to stay and migrate among different populations: 1) residents who decideto stay or who may aspire to migrate, 2) migrants on the move and 3) people settled in these countries. Thecombination of all these characteristics makes these three countries suitable for exploring the links betweenlong-term social transformations and migration decision-making processes before the onset of migration andthroughout the migratory journey.Although the characteristics of these three countries at national level are important, this project movesfrom the national context to the regional and municipal context. To do this, it focuses on specific secondarycities, their historical development, including their migration history and their role in the national mobilitydynamics. In sum, this WP seeks to highlight how long-term societal changes in the selected secondary citiesshapes the perceptions, values, personal expectations and life and migration aspirations of residents andmigrants.