Driven to Leave: Aid & Migration - Assessing Evidence from Somalia & Afghanistan

This is an output from a project that was part of the fifth Applied Research Fund (ARF) on mixed migration flows. The ARF is executed by NWO-WOTRO in close collaboration with the Platform. The call aims to strengthen the evidence-base for security and rule of law policies and programming, addressing the root causes, and the dynamics and consequences of mixed migration flows within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Despite the many benefits migration brings to both home and host communities, donor governments have sought to invest in programs in countries of origin that might reduce the flow of people to Europe. Many such investments have been based on the assumption that more economic development in countries of origin will lead to more local jobs, fewer migrants, and therefore less economic and political turmoil in Europe. Yet this premise is increasingly contested by facts from the ground. This brief presents new evidence on this ongoing debate. Drawing from two countries of origin of many migrants to Europe – Afghanistan and Somalia – this paper tests assumptions about ‘root causes’ of and ‘solutions’ to migration.

“You ask me when and why I decided to leave, but, in fact, I did not have any choice." - Somalia man, age 24.

Read a recently published blog piece by Teza Besfaye on EuroNews here.