Translated by Maria Maddalena Zizzo
The paradox of migration on the continent
The migratory phenomenon has been at the centre of international and European debate for years, although without giving enough attention to internal migration. Here is how the 'migrant' as defined by the West is instead an 'exile in their own homeland' or, according to the definition in international law, an 'internally displaced person' on the African continent.
Today’s data suggest, in fact, that their number has been recently growing disproportionately, because of current multiple crisis unfolding in Africa.
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), fundamental international monitoring centre based in Geneva, estimated in the Global Report on Internal Displacement of 2025, regarding the internal displacement situation, that around 38,8 million people are fleeing, but they do not cross borders: they make up roughly half of the world's displaced people for the reference year.
Alexandra Bilak, director of IDMC, defined internal displacement as «the place where conflict, poverty and climate collide, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. These numbers show that internal displacement is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a clear political and development challenge that requires more attention than it currently gets».
For definition, as mentioned before, internal displaced persons are forced to flee their houses for different reasons, including violence, disasters, crises of any kind, and numerous global and regional conflicts currently underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Palestine, Sudan, and Lebanon – to name a few. It is also important to pay attention to those who have been living as internal displaced persons for decades in countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Colombia.
It is a phenomenon that is constantly growing, especially on the African continent, due to the wide variety of circumstances involved, including those mentioned above: IDCM highlighted that 23 African countries are particularly affected by a large number of refugees, that has tripled compared to 15 years ago.
Today, new dynamics that affect the region have emerged: for example, the strong political instability and the severe economic and climate crises. The heavy demographic pressure is reflected in the population growth rate – 2.5% annually – and, moreover, in the fact that more than half the population is under 25 years old: this means that the aspiration to seek opportunities elsewhere, defined by the Nigerian term japa, is more common and widespread.
To summarise, migration is not an emergency that need “to be contained”, but a structural answer to demographic, social and climate changes, and to safety in the Sahel and in the Horn of Africa.
The most recent data, together with those provided by the Monitoring Centre, come from UNHCR and the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM), which recently published the World Migration Report 2026. The report highlights the tendency of the sub-Saharan African population to move within the continent or within national borders: in fact, only 3% of the total African population lives outside its own country and, in 2024, it was estimated that around 25 million migrants live in another country of the same continent.
To understand the most dramatic share of internal displacement, caused by conflicts and climate disasters, it is enough to look at the data from three particularly affected countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Somalia. We are talking about 5, 3.7, and 2.9 million internal displacements respectively for each country – the first two, in particular, due to the conflict in the region, with very serious humanitarian consequences.
The two factors driving movement
The first major factor driving movement is certainly the geopolitical situation in the region.
If you take the conflict in Sudan as an example, it is no longer confined to the depths of the Sahel desert but has expanded towards the south: jihadist militias use rural and bored areas to resupply, recruit, and reorganize, with the consequence that civilian populations – finding themselves caught between the violence of the insurgents and the counteroffensives of national armies, have no choice but move towards safer areas.
Even the so-called ‘hinge countries’ – Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Ghana – considered stable countries and economic engines until recently, are now battlegrounds, due to the imbalance between the resources available in the poorer northern regions and the strong influx of displaced people. The conflict stems from the progressive militarization of borders and a shift in local population’s perception: previously, some kind of pan-African solidarity prevailed, whereas now displaced people are increasingly seen with suspicion by local communities, who fear an increasing in the competition for scarce available resources.
The second factor is climate change, which particularly affects the area. Considering that the Horn of Africa’s economy has historically relied on pastoralism and subsistence farming, it is not hard to grasp the difficulties arising from the multiple waves of drought and flooding that have occurred over the years. The resulting loss is not only economic but, especially one of identity. The droughts of 2025 and 2026 have been so intense that recovery is impossible and, as a consequence, the survival of entire families depends on abandoning rural life to move toward the city.
The dilemma: the conflict between sovereignty and integration, and international challenges
At the centre of the dilemma lies the constant tension between each country’s immediate and daily need for security and a long-term vision of strategic union and pan-African integration.
The common reactions of individual states in facing dangerous situations are, as mentioned before, the militarization of borders and a different perception of the migrant, who is seen as a threat and as a competition for resources.
On the other hand, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 is built on the shared vision of ‘integrating to prosper’. The Agenda – the AU’s strategic plan aimed at transforming Africa into a global power through integration – rests on a fundamental pillar: the Protocol on Free Movement. The Union thus affirms that the movement of people is in fact a necessary driver for the African single market, a further step toward a more interconnected Africa capable of harnessing its own talents.
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Anna Pasquetto
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Migranti africa subsahariana