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The team of the ACP Observatory on Migration would like to express its gratitude to the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States, especially the Assistant Secretary General, Ms. Michèle Dominique Raymond, and the European Union for their support, which made this publication possible. The team would also like to thank all the institutions and individuals who were instrumental in this work. In particular, sincere thanks go to the writing team and the internal reviewers, composed of Tara Brian, Jette Christiansen, Pablo Escribano, Olivier Ferrari, Zafar Khan, Livia Manente, Susanne Melde, Monika Peruffo and Paula Subia.
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With an increasing number of international migrants – and even more internal migrants residing in developing countries – human mobility is a reality in the South, with an ever-increasing potential to positively impact on development. Growing international awareness of the possible contributions of South–South migration to human development comes at a crucial moment. In October this year, the United Nations General Assembly will, for the second time, hold the High-level Dialogue (HLD) on International Migration and Development. On this occasion, the international community will not only discuss migration and its contributions to development, but also propose ways of integrating migration into the post-2015 development agenda. The second HLD, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to recognize migration as a key enabler of inclusive and sustainable economic and social development to promote the positive role of migrants as agents of development, and to improve cooperation and partnerships on migration governance.
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If greatest attention has traditionally been given to migration from the South to the North, recent years have seen an increasing focus on migration taking place within the global South. The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Observatory on Migration was established in 2010 by the European Union and the ACP Group of States in order to provide policy-oriented research on migration trends and patterns within ACP countries.
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When the European Union and the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Group of States launched the call for the establishment of an observatory on migration in 2008, the idea of looking at migration from a perspective focusing on the “global South” was a promising (Ratha and Shaw, 2007), though little explored, subject.
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The studies undertaken on behalf of the ACP Observatory on Migration, as described in the preceding chapters, brought interesting insights that raise questions about the way South–South migration is perceived and addressed by policymakers. The available studies and data on intraregional and extraregional trends indicate the need to consider mobility in a holistic way and to recognize both the diversity and interrelatedness of its patterns. Acknowledgement of the commonalities and differences between several patterns of migration that we tag as “South–South” is indeed a first and very important step towards new policy approaches, as well as towards overcoming the classical South–North divide and the way it is addressed by the international community. More than that, it is an important step towards taking into account the emerging trends brought about by globalization and by the “rise of the South” (UNDP, 2009), particularly the way they are shaping global, regional and local mobility, and influencing global economic and social dynamics.
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Regardless of the definition of “South” or of the other terms used, global power constellations are changing, and migration patterns are changing with them. At the global level, the predominance of the West is being complemented with other emerging powers, leading to what UNDP (2013) has called “a more balanced world.” With the rise of the BRICS countries and other regional poles, such as Angola, Barbados, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, mobility to and from those countries needs to be put on the agenda. Reasons why intraregional mobility will likely increase further in the future include: lower cost of travel, an increasing importance of regional economic integration, restrictive immigration policies in the North (Hujo and Piper, 2010) and the impact of the economic crises in the North, leading to a slowdown of South–North migration and even intensifying reverse migration trends from the North to the South.
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