What Do Arabs Think About When They Think About Migration? Insights from the Arab Opinion Index (2011-2022)

Authors

  • Author

  • Majd Abuamer

Keywords:

Arab Public Opinion, Arab Opinion Index, Migration, Youth, Arab Countries

Abstract

This paper examines Arab public opinion trends on migration based on data from eight Arab Opinion Index surveys conducted annually by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in 14 Arab countries in 2011 and 2022. It explores the desire to migrate, the motives behind migration, and the preferred destination. The findings reveal that around a quarter of Arab citizens have consistently expressed a desire to migrate over the past 12 years, with higher interest recorded among the youth compared to older age groups, men compared to women, and those with at least a secondary school education compared to those with lower education levels. The paper highlights economic conditions as the primary motivation for migration. Additionally, it shows that half of those wishing to migrate select Europe and the Arab Gulf countries as their preferred destinations.

References

  1. Thomas Nail, The Figure of the Migrant (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2015), p. 1.
  2. The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Situation Report on International Migration 2021: Building forward Better for Migrants and Refugees in the Arab Region (Beirut: ESCWA Publications, 2022), p. 23.
  3. The United Nations defines an international migrant as “any person who has changed his or her country of usual residence”. It distinguishes between short-term migrants, who have changed their countries of usual residence for at least three months, but less than one year, and long-term migrants, who have done so for at least one year. International Organization for Migration (IOM), World Migration Report 2022 (Geneva: 2021), p. 23.
  4. The Arab Opinion Index is a comprehensive tool designed to capture trends in public opinion on a set of economic, social, and political issues across the Arab world. To view the Arab Index reports and data, see: ACRPS, “Arab Opinion Index Program,” accessed on 12/14/2023, at: https:// tinyurl.com/2jzaxumr DK/Declined Female No Yes Male
  5. Majd Abuamer, “Palestinian Youth Migration from Gaza Strip to Turkey: From Crossing to (Un)Stable Existence,” paper presented at Political Exile and Arab Migrations in Turkey Conference, The French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA), Istanbul, 3-4/11/2022. Aggregate Lebanon Palestine Iraq Jordan
  6. ESCWA, pp. 38-41.
  7. This is confirmed by some press reports. See, for example: “Since the launch of the popular movement in Algeria, the rate of illegal migration has dropped to zero!,” France24 , 2/4/2019, accessed on 18/11/2024, at https://tinyurl.com/bdcn3sy5
  8. ESCWA, pp. 38-39.
  9. A study issued by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in March 2023 showed that the percentage of immigrants in France from three Arab Maghreb countries (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) has been stable since the 1980s at about 30% of the total number of immigrants annually. Tunisia Morocco Algeria See: Immigrés et descendants d’immigrés en France , Insee Références (Paris: Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, 2023).
  10. Ibid. Aggregate Qatar Kuwait Saudi Arabia
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Published

2024-05-01

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Issue

Vol. 7 No. 017 (2024): Issue 017

Section

Arab Opinion Index Analysis

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