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Migration aspirations from a youth perspective: focus groups with returnees and youth in Mali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2021

Jaimie Bleck  and
Alison Lodermeier
Jaimie Bleck*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, USA
Alison Lodermeier*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
*
Email: Jaimie.Bleck.1@nd.edu
Email: alison_lodermeier@brown.edu
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Abstract

Mali has one of the highest migration rates in Africa, but we still know very little about the processes and drivers of migration – particularly in the context of the current political crisis. This article draws on 27 focus groups with 220 returnees and male youth respondents conducted in the summer of 2018. Respondents cite underemployment and the inability to provide for relatives as well as a feeling of hopelessness about a future life in Mali as drivers of migration. Returnees report that the voyage was more difficult than anticipated. However, even with knowledge of the significant risks they face, most (68%) returnees express a desire to try to migrate again: this is particularly true for returned migrants who failed in an attempt to reach Europe (89%). The research illustrates very different experiences for migrants attempting to reach Europe and those with goals of intra-African migration.

Keywords

Malimigrationyouthfocus groupsreturnees
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 551 - 577
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

The authors would like to thank the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies for research funding, our research team in Mali – particularly Youssouf Konde and Souleymane Guindo, as well as participants in the Ford Program Seminar Series and the anonymous reviewers for helpful feedback on earlier drafts of the paper.

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