Article

The Multiplicity of Transit: The Waiting and Onward Mobility of African Migrants in the European Union

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Abstract

Many African would-be immigrants perceive 'Destination Europe' as one integrated space in which they can easily move to places that meet their aspirations. However, for those who have managed to enter the European Union (EU), reality often appears to be harsher than expected. Using a 'trajectory ethnography' that aims to follow migrants through time-space, this research explores the interplay between the diverse mobility processes of African migrants and EU's mobility regimes that produce what I call the 'multiplicity of transit'. This notion moves away from the idea that migrants may have well-weighted plans and concrete destinations in their mind as they travel. It questions the linearity of so-called transit migration, as the in-between phase between departure and arrival. By following their aspirations and im/mobilities, we notice that African migrants truly 'live Europe', looking beyond state borders to improve their socio-economic position.

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... The reinstatement of border controls within the Schengen area has, over the past years, been invoked as one of several ways to manage and halt migration between European countries. While the free movement of goods, services and capital in the European Single Market has been largely upheld, human mobility, specifically migration from the Global South to the Global North, has become the target of increased restrictions within the European Union (EU) (Andersson, 2016;Schapendonk, 2017). This ethnographic chapter explores West African migrants' diverse approaches to remaining mobile in the EU in the context of increasingly restrictive migration policies. ...
... A growing body of literature Toma & Castagone, 2015;Schapendonk, 2012Schapendonk, , 2017Ahrens, 2013;Schuster, 2005) explores the migration trajectories, particularly of irregularised migrants towards and within the EU. This body of research investigates the effect and effectiveness of EU migration policies that assign migrants to legal categories and attempt to confine them spatially, but also addresses how migrants navigate these migration regimes. ...
... Restrictive migration regimes in Europe make it particularly difficult for many people from sub-Saharan Africa to obtain visas to enter the EU through regular channels, leading people to seek out ever more dangerous routes to Europe via the infamous Mediterranean crossing and, since 2018, increasingly via the Strait of Gibraltar (Spiegel Online, 2018). Moreover, these policy restrictions continue to govern migrants' mobility within Europe (Ahrens, 2013;Lucht, 2012;Schapendonk, 2012Schapendonk, , 2017Vigh, 2009a;Toma & Castagnone, 2015). Schapendonk (2017) applies the concept "multiplicity of transit" to address the relationship between migrants' diverse mobilities and EU migration policies that bind them to a legal category, e.g. ...
... Research on contemporary irregular migration has shown the fragmented, unpredictable and invisible components of irregular journeys Nardone & Correa-Velez, 2016;Schapendonk, 2017). This is a result of tightened legal ways to travel, an increasing securitisation of border policies and entry procedures and the externalisation of EU border governance (Bigo, 2008;Broeders & Engbersen, 2007;Triandafyllidou, 2021). ...
... During our second interview in Sicily, Farouk shared his future plans to either return to Tunisia during summer vacations and equip his mother's house with home appliances, meet his extended family or to start an export business between Tunisia and Italy. Others like Paul explained that "When [I] have documents [in Italy] I will go to France" (Ivorian boy -M2-in Palermo) hoping that their right to travel will broaden their opportunities for employment within the Schengen area (Schapendonk, 2017). For these reasons, rapidly securing their residence status in Europe was central to their capability to travel within and beyond Europe. ...
... However, they actively respond to these liminal and sometimes controlling experiences by exerting Chapter 6 | 229 agency in rebuilding their social lives . In line with this, there is growing research interest regarding migrants' journeys, specifically research which aims to unpack their subjective experiences of liminality while being on the move (Arvanitis et al., 2019;Paynter, 2018;Schapendonk, 2017). More so, mobile migrants produce memories , knowledge and connectedness by creating commonalities of knowledge and a repertory of know-how of precarious mobility and survival (Trimikliniotis et al., 2015). ...
... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
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... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
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... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
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... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
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... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
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... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
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We depart from a paradox: migrants’ complex migration trajectories challenge dominant, often destination-oriented, conceptualisations of migration decision-making. This prompted us to raise the issue, in the questions pursued in our 30 semi-structured interviews with nurse migrants, of why Norway was chosen as a destination or a base for onward movement. We draw on this dataset, with specific analytical emphasis on eight of these interviews, in which the nurses shared their experiences of complex migration trajectories between Poland, the Philippines and Norway; others included Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the UK. Our contribution builds on the case of professional, predominantly female, often South-North migrants, whose experiences to date have not been formative in migration theory, despite the volume of interdisciplinary research on nurse migration. We argue that a fresh and critical perspective may contribute to the adjustment of prevailing theorisations. We trace the geographical patterns of our interviewees’ complex migration trajectories and analyse the dynamics of onward migration decision-making in the context of transnational lifeworlds. We find actual and potential onward migration is a significant feature of nurse migrants’ trajectories, where the notion of ‘a destination’ is illusive, changes over time and is shaped by multi-sited transnational ties.
... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
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While transnationalism and mobility are sometimes used as synonyms, the two concepts have different focuses: on attachments within different countries in transnationalism and on multiple and open-ended moves in the mobility approach. In this chapter, we explore how the two concepts intersect with onward migration in the context of Brexit. The loss of rights linked to EU freedom of movement that is part of the Brexit process increases the orientations towards further migration while, at the same time, limiting the opportunities for further migration. We use in-depth interviews with EU27 citizens in the UK, UK citizens in Belgium and Bangladeshis who have naturalised in Italy before moving to the UK. We show how the completed onward migration to the UK of the Italo-Bangladeshis has weakened transnational activities in relation to Bangladesh, including periodic returns and remittances. We further show how transnational links delimit the mobility orientation of EU citizens ‘by birth’, by focusing on the plans for return migration, rather than onward migration within the EU. Given these results, we reflect on whether transnationalism and mobility theory are simply convergent or if they describe phenomena that might actually be in partial opposition.
... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter offers a critical reframing of how migration decision-making can shift between partners over time and space. Told through the lens of the female spouse within two heterosexual migrant couples, the chapter shows how experiences of mobility are not just shaped by individuals’ social positionality but also by the complex intersections between their classed, gendered, religious and racialised identities and that of their partners. The literature on middling migration has often been a story of male-led labour migration, with women occupying the status of the accompanying migrant. Less attention is paid to the experiences of migrant women, particularly those who first relocate on family or spousal visas but who seek to re-negotiate gender-differentiated career progression over time and through multiple relocations. Through a detailed biographical case study of two couples, this chapter seeks to capture the shifts in their trajectories, attachments and decision-making that occur spatially, temporally and relationally to show the diverse experiences and statuses that constitute the often-homogenised category of ‘the middle’.
... At the same time, a migrant may leave the supposed destination already after a short period of time. Several studies about transit migration and migration trajectories show that intentions need to be conceptualised in consideration of their dynamic and fluid nature (Collyer & de Haas, 2012;Wissink et al., 2013;Schapendonk, 2017;Zeleke, 2017). Paul and Yeoh (2020) suggest multinational migration as an umbrella term to embrace the different types of multiple movements within one's lifetime. ...
Chapter
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A growing number of studies emphasise the non-linearity of migration. Aspirations and capabilities for multinational migration often develop or change during the migration process. These dynamics have mostly been analysed with regards to movements within the European Union or to countries in the so-called ‘Global North’. This chapter aims to broaden this focus by including movements in the context of South-South migration. It discusses multinational migration by Senegalese migrants in Brazil, which is both a destination and an origin of movements that connect a variety of countries and regions. It analyses the complex trajectories of Senegalese migrants from different social and educational backgrounds and focuses on how decisions to move again from one country to another develop and which factors influence the choice of destination. Through a multi-sited qualitative case study using interview and ethnographic methods with Senegalese migrants in four Brazilian cities – São Paulo, Praia Grande, Caxias do Sul and Passo Fundo – the research examines both already-occurred movements from Cape Verde and Argentina to Brazil and aspirations to migrate further to the ‘Global North’. The findings show that these multinational migrations are mostly driven by the desire for self-improvement – financial, professional or educational – and a hierarchy of desired destinations but also a result of suddenly emerging opportunities and mediation. The movements are facilitated through the multiple transnational ties with which Senegalese migrants are connected to different places. Furthermore, the study shows how Senegalese migrants acquire new migratory capital – for example in the form of another nationality, business activities or access to new networks – and how migration experiences influence onward migration aspirations and preparations, hereby drawing attention to the active learning process which migrants experience during their trajectory.
... We analyze their entire migration process, from the moment the women decided to leave their homes and the imaginaries that influenced their decision, to the journey, their arrival in Chile and their settling. The focus on trajectories serves as a relevant analytical lens in migration research because it represents the outcome of the intersection of individual aspirations, social networking practices, policy interventions, and socio-political structures (Schapendonk, 2017). Migratory trajectories are experienced differently according to hierarchies of power, influenced by race, gender, age, and class (Hannam et al., 2006). ...
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Venezuelans escaping from the crisis in their country count currently among the largest displaced populations in the world. Chile seems to offer them an oasis of political and economic stability. This ethnographic study explores the migrant trajectories of Venezuelan women. We disentangle their migration process, including destination imaginaries, the journey, and their life in Chile. We discuss how uncertainty is permanent in their trajectories and how the imagined oasis turns out to be just a mirage. The women end up waiting, perhaps perennially, to be able to return home. Meanwhile, they develop strategies to survive in an oasis without water.
... Within this paper, the term "EU mobility regimes" (Schapendonk, 2017) is used rather than EU border regime to emphasise that the EU regime consists of multiple strategies restricting mobilities. Following the example of Landau (2019), I acknowledge that for the sake of analysis I use generalised conceptualisations of the European Union (EU) and Europe, and also (West-)Africa, that do not account for the complexities of these geographic and political bodies. ...
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This article explores West-African modes of mobilisations confronting the externalisation of European borders. At the hands of a secondary data analysis, this article critically examined the most recent publications in relation to this topic, guided by the following research question: How do West-African modes of mobilisations challenge EU mobility regimes? This research identified governments, local organisations, (potential) migrants, expelled migrants, media, academia and writers and transnational social movements as relevant actors with different modes of action. This research suggests that there are multiple West-African modes of mobilisations that challenge EU mobility regimes, confront the problematisation of non-sedentary lifestyles and see mobility as a strategy and a solution for a bottom-up process of globalisation and as an inherent part of West-African mobile societies; existing next to African modes of mobilisations that have become part of EU mobility regimes. The objective of this research is to promote future research by increasing the visibility and political agency of the transformative possibilities of African modes of mobilisations.
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