Migrant Communities and the Internal and External Dynamics of Integration: The Potential Role of Migrants in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

EuroMeSCo Paper, October 2006 (56)

According to the report of the United Nations Global Commission on International Migration, due to widespread human migration movements, the emergence of routes that break with the classic dichotomy between emigration and immigration countries, and the strengthening of migrant communities in every continent, a change in the way we perceive migration in general is necessary. Whereas migration flows in the 60’s and 70’s meant for many migrants a break with the country of origin, at the turn of the 21st century migration occurs in a context where communication among individuals is easier and where human mobility is also greater. Today, this worldwide process encompasses not only the arrival of people in rich societies but also the presence of transnational communities almost everywhere around the world.