Issues and Challenges of Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries

This article is a theory‐based attempt to present the issues and challenges of emigration dynamics in developing countries. The topic is discussed within several basic assumptions: first, that emigration dynamics in developing countries have certain features that are different from those in developed countries; second, that countries in the regions covered by the study (sub‐Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and South Asia) are representative of developing countries. The article has been considerably facilitated by two recently concluded and reported projects: the IOM/UNFPA project, “Emigration dynamics in developing countries: sub‐Saharan Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, and South Asia”(Appleyard, 1998, 1999), and the UAP/CEIFO project on “International migration in and from Africa: dimensions, challenges and prospects”(Adepoju and Hammar, 1996). Any serious academic study of emigration dynamics in developing countries must acknowledge these landmark scholarly studies if they hope to advance understanding of the essential features of emigration dynamics in developing countries. A prime objective of the present article is to focus attention on aspects of the emigration process that will enable policy makers to utilize emigration for development, especially through national and international cooperation at regional and global levels. The article is predicated upon the need for a theory or model of emigration dynamics in developing countries that meets both internal and external dimensions. The adequacy of such a theory can be measured at three different levels: observation, description and explanation (Chomsky, 1965).