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Migration and Displacement in Sub-Saharan Africa – A New BICC Publication

April 30, 2009

Bonn. The latest publication of BICC (Bonn International Center for Conversion) is a documentation of the results of the international conference "Migration and Displacement in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Security – Migration Nexus II" (13-14 February 2009, Bonn). The event was supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and was devoted to south-south migration with a focus on displacement.

In BICC brief 39 “Migration and Displacement in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Security-Migration Nexus II”, experts present the current state of research, consider aspects for future study and discuss concrete political approaches.

“Flight and expulsion, particularly as a consequence of armed conflicts, influence the development, stability and security of the states concerned and give rise to great challenges for action by policy-makers at all levels and for international humanitarian assistance”, Peter J. Croll, Director of BICC, underlines in his preface.

Approximately 150 participants from the fields of research, politics and civil society came to Bonn at BICC's invitation to discuss the causes and types of displacement as well as strategies for migration governance and humanitarian aid. Speakers included prominent representatives from the field of research, the relevant ministries and African regional organizations, as well as local and international humanitarian organizations. BICC brief 39 documents points of view e.g. of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in Geneva as well as the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the German KfW Entwicklungsbank.

“The complexity of causes, types and consequences of forced migration for the persons concerned, the countries and communities of origin, transit and destination as well as the variety of stakeholders engaged in displacement settings, require an interdisciplinary approach”, Clara Fischer, editor, says in the conclusions of BICC brief 39.

For preventing persecution and forced displacement, existing national and international law as well as local structures must be strengthened in order to develop a sustainable strategy for preventing flight and displacement. The conference called for a paradigm shift in development cooperation – the international community should focus its attention more on issues of prevention and the causes of flight.


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