1. Introduction

1. Introduction

Governance is shorthand for exercise of authority within a particular sphere, pursuit of collective interest, and steering and coordination of society (Pierre and Peters 2000; Peters and Pierre 2005). As such, the concept of governance can be understood in a variety of ways and lends itself to a multitude of interpretations. This chapter adopts a governance approach to the study of migration in the Middle East and North Africa. Relying on a multi-dimensional framework to capture linkages between governance and migration from the perspectives of sending and receiving countries, this chapter focuses on governance-related push and pull factors in both origin and receiving countries.

First, this chapter considers how governance in origin countries affect migration flows. It addresses challenges related to poor governance and institutions in origin countries that drive migration flows and lead to forced displacement from highly affected areas or countries—including weak economic institutions, limited political freedoms and civil liberties, and economic underperformance coupled with unfavorable demographic trends, weak climate response, and generalized violence and conflicts. Second, this chapter examines linkages between governance and migration from the perspective of receiving countries. Migrants’ and refugees’ socioeconomic and legal rights in destination countries have important implications for their welfare, labor market integration, and overall well-being.

Why does governance in origin Middle Eastern and North African countries matter for migration? There are several reasons why governance at origin matters for migration. First, emigration and forced displacement from the region account for a significant proportion of global mobility. In 2020, Middle Eastern and North African countries accounted for 11 percent of the total international migrant stock, one-third of all refugees and asylum seekers, and one-quarter of total internal displacement (UN DESA 2020; UNHCR 2021).

Second, as will be shown in Section 4, Middle Eastern and North African countries face a multitude of governance challenges, including weak economic institutions, lack of political freedoms and civil liberties, and high population growth, coupled with poor economic prospects, climate change with a lack of appropriate policy responses, and intensification of conflicts and state-based violence. Unless these countries address these underlying governance challenges, the region is likely to experience an even larger increase in international migration and forced displacement, and with the region’s large population, no receiving countries’ labor markets would be able to absorb and integrate such large flows of migrants and refugees.

Third, these mobility patterns are likely to have important implications for origin countries’ development and human capital accumulation. Depending on selection patterns of migrants and refugees, Middle Eastern and North African countries might lose highly skilled, well-educated people. Although high-skilled emigration may have positive impacts on origin countries through human capital formation (Beine, Docquier, and Oden-Defoort, 2011), brain drain is becoming a dominant pattern of international migration, as highlighted by Docquier and Rapoport (2012). Several studies have underscored the harms of high-skilled migration in origin countries (Beine, Docquier, and Rapoport 2008; Fan and Stark 2007), including long-run increases in inequality in global distribution of income, with skilled migration from poor to rich countries (Mountford and Rapoport 2011).

Lastly, some of the governance challenges that these countries face could generate important flows of forced displacement within Middle Eastern and North African countries. Unless addressed with proper policy responses, climate shocks are likely to become more frequent, severe, and extreme in the years and decades to come. With the aggravation of these

shocks, large segments of the population might face internal forced displacement, escaping from highly affected areas. These large population movements will exert additional pressure on existing poor infrastructure, public services, and local labor markets in the region. Addressing these challenges is therefore of utmost importance for these countries and their populations.

Governance in origin countries matters directly and indirectly. There are endogenous and reinforcing relationships between governance, migration, and development. As shown in Section 3, which reviews the literature on governance in origin countries as a determinant of migration, poor governance in origin countries—whether in the form of lack of economic and political freedoms, poor institutional quality, economic underperformance, or political violence—is an important determinant of migration and forced displacement. Although these determinants can directly drive migration and forced displacement, they may also have indirect impacts on the flow of migrants and forcibly displaced people from origin countries. For instance, poor governance in origin countries may be associated with stunted job creation and poor economic prospects, which may also drive emigration. Islam, Moosa, and Saliola (2022), who emphasize the role of poor governance in Middle Eastern and North African countries in explaining low job creation in the private sector, highlight the latter indirect channel. Likewise, conflict and generalized violence are more likely to occur when governance fails (Hegre and Nygård 2015; Wig and Tollefsen 2016), leading to higher incentives for people to move out. The loss of human capital, associated with high-skilled emigration from poor countries, would in turn reinforce governance failures, as it may result in slower improvement or even deterioration of governance in origin countries.

Adopting a governance-centered approach to the study of migration involves expanding the scope of the analysis to governance challenges in destination and not only origin countries. The current chapter underscores that better migration institutions in destination countries are crucial to achieving better labor market integration, enhancing human capital accumulation, and improving the welfare of migrants and refugees. Given that a large fraction of Middle Eastern and North African emigrants migrate to other Middle Eastern and North African countries—in particular to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—this chapter highlights much-needed reforms to the sponsorship system, governing the relationship between employers and migrant workers. According to this system, the immigration status of a migrant worker is legally bound to a sponsor, or an employer, for their contract period. The chapter highlights how reforming the sponsorship system would benefit migrants and destination countries. With a new migration governance policy framework in the GCC, migrants would have higher degrees of labor mobility and, consequently, greater labor market integration. Benefits of reforming the sponsorship system would not be limited to migrant workers but will also benefit GCC countries. Indeed, GCC countries are likely to benefit economically from incremental reforms to the system and better enforcement of newly established regulations in countries that have already undertaken reforms in this direction. The chapter also reviews the legal framework governing hosting of refugees in major host countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Jordan and Lebanon, and presents some policy recommendations to improve refugees’ lives through better refugee governance policy.

The remainder of this chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 provides some background information on international migration and forced displacement in the Middle East and North Africa. Section 3 provides a literature review on linkages between governance at origin, emigration, and forced displacement flows. Section 4 highlights governance shortfalls in Middle Eastern and North African origin countries. Section 5 discusses governance in destination countries. Section 6 provides some concluding remarks.