Abstract:

This article explores the historical developments of migration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. It investigates the major turning points in the history of migration in the region, and some of the major policies and regulations that have been adopted in reaction to the inflow of migrants and the political and economic considerations that have motivated such polices. It argues that in some countries, improvised and exclusionary policy schemes necessitated by short-term political objectives and factors related to the interests of the political system have exacerbated the conditions of the migrant population and limited the prospects of integration. Hence, Saudi Arabia persistently adopts a populist purge against migrants by aggressively pushing for nationalizing various job sectors that were previously occupied by immigrants. Other countries in the region, and more specifically in North Africa, have taken a pragmatic attitude toward migration. They have consequently given up their exclusionary and highly securitized approach to migration and adopted national migration strategies that have opened the door for upward social mobility as well as social and political participation.

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