“Today, I Would Never Go to Europe”

Mobility with the aim of creating new economic opportunities and resources is a central aspect of survival strategies of families and larger social groups in Sahara-Sahel. This chapter shows how the migrants develop their circular migration strategies based on the availability and compatibility of resources, such as agriculture and fisheries, and exchange of goods and services. The chapter also shows that the migration policies of the ECOWAS countries is linked to the principle that the free movement of people is aiding regional development. It focusses on how the immigration policy of the European Union influences the precarious equilibrium between mobility, uncertain resources, and migrant investments in the countries of circular migration, thus favoring the common interests of the West African States that are affected by migration. The chapter exposes several migration strategies of Mauritanian and Malian migrants, representing a microcosm of various coping strategies and circulation patterns in West Africa. Keywords: circular migration; migration strategies; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Malian migrants; Mauritanian migrants; West Africa

Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · European union · Geography · Human migration · Immigration · International trade · Political science · Population · Sociology · African Studies and Geopolitics · China's Global Influence and Migration · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender