South-North Refugee Migration: Lessons for Development Cooperation

As exemplified in the 1995 Mediterranean Declaration of the European Union, migration has become a major concern for European development policies. By enhancing socio-economic conditions through development cooperation, a reduction of South-North migration flows is envisaged. This new approach is examined by analysing the causes of asylum migration from developing countries to Germany. The econometric findings suggest that support of democracy, economic development and trade will not reduce migration, at least in the medium run, although restrictive legal measures do work. Migration control by international development cooperation therefore seems to need a long-term perspective.