Perspectives on Contemporary Migration and Regional Integration in Central Africa

Abstract

The human landscape in the Central African region is complex. Within and across boundaries, human mobility creates and recreates political, social and cultural configurations which present challenges to states. In the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, political instability raises the challenge of refugees. Beyond forced migration, the Central African region is also characterized by voluntary migration. This chapter aims to grasp the dynamics sustaining migration trends in this region so as to understand its drivers. It also analyses the actions and reactions of regional economic communities (RECs) as regional responses to tackle migration issues. The era of states managing migration on their own is apparently losing traction and is being replaced by a regional approach, which gives importance to RECs. The former is prone to control, to deter migration, whereas the latter perspective seeks free movement of people. The Central African region has many regional organizations, but only three are considered in this chapter: the Economic Community of the Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (ECGLC) and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (EMCCA). Voluntary migration in Central Africa is the most dynamic and should be governed in order to make this region ‘a space of peace and of development’.