Congolese migration in times of political and economic crisis

Schoumaker, Bruno [UCL] Flahaux, Marie-Laurence [UCL] Mangalu Mobhe, Agbada José [UNIKIN]

DR Congo has gone through many political and economic crises since independence. The severe deterioration of the economic and political situation in DR Congo in the 1990s coincided with new opportunities in African countries, and with the tightening of migration policies in Europe. These changes have profoundly affected Congolese migration. Departures to other African countries have rocketed, while migration to Europe increased somewhat in the 1990s but has decreased in recent years. Congo-to-Europe migration has also undergone major transformations since the 1990s. Congolese migrants tend to settle for longer than before, both in Belgium, the traditional immigration country, and in the United Kingdom, a new destination. Political reasons have become a major motive for migration and in recent years around half of Congolese migrants have been asylum seekers. Migrants have also come from increasingly diverse backgrounds (less educated migrants, more women) and have experienced more complex trajectories. Congolese migrants also increasingly move, or intend to move, to North America; the Congolese diaspora is changing.