African migration and barriers to labour market integration in Europe

Highly educated African migrants face barriers to labour market integration in Europe, where their skills are often undervalued and discrimination is widespread. Drawing on research on Burundian migrants in Belgium and Sweden, this policy note highlights the costs of exclusion and calls for stronger anti-discrimination enforcement, and closer Europe-Africa cooperation to promote transnational labour mobility.

Guðrún Sif Friðriksdóttir, Reykjavík Academy and University of Iceland

Marie, a human rights lawyer who fled Burundi in 2017, now lives on the outskirts of Brussels where she works in the warehouse of a clothing store. Looking back, she wishes she had started her life in Belgium by getting an additional master’s degree from a Belgian university. Her compatriot Emmanuel did just that. Formerly a project coordinator in agricultural initiatives in Burundi, he started his life in exile by pursuing a master’s connected to his great passion, agriculture. Yet despite this added advantage, Emmanuel today works in one of Belgium’s largest supermarkets restocking shelves.

These are two people I have interviewed in my research on displaced Burundians, and like all the people I interviewed, their names are pseudonyms. Over the period December 2022 to November 2024, I interviewed 19 Burundians, ranging from one to five interviews per person. They had all fled Burundi and now live in either Belgium or Sweden. All of them enjoyed a high socioeconomic status at home, but today find themselves in lower-status jobs. Their stories reflect a broader reality: Europe has yet to recognise and make use of the skills and experience that many African migrants bring.

Negative discourses and contradictory attitudes

In European public and political debates, African migration is often portrayed as a problem to be solved External link, opens in new window.. Policy discussions and media coverage in Europe tend to exaggerate the scale of African migration to Europe and to frame it in terms of irregular arrivals caused by humanitarian crises. This perception stands in stark contrast to the facts. In reality, most African mobility is regular, regional and economically driven External link, opens in new window.. The majority of African migration occurs within Africa itself. According to the United Nations, 64 per cent External link, opens in new window. of all migrants born in sub-Saharan Africa live elsewhere on the continent and only a small proportion make it to Europe. Globally, nearly half of all international migrants External link, opens in new window. move less than 600 km from home, an indication that most people prefer to stay close to familiar social, cultural and linguistic environments.

Additionally, even though the discourse on (African) migration to Europe among European policymakers and in the media is generally negative External link, opens in new window. and presented as a problem to be solved, Europeans in general, and to a greater extent than 20 years ago, feel that immigration benefits their countries External link, opens in new window. . Different factors are important in shaping public opinion; two important ones are the origin and the skill level of migrants. African migrants in general are usually on the lower end of the skill-level scale.

There are a few contradictions in policies towards migrants in general. Within Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, for example, the recent post-pandemic surge in international students has in some cases led to more restrictive enrolment measures External link, opens in new window.. Yet at the same time, many of these countries have set up policies to retain international graduates and support their integration into the labour market, recognising the need for younger cohorts in the workforce as birth rates are falling across Europe.

Push and pull factors in migration

Migration is often a means for people to make their lives better economically and therefore there is a worldwide tendency for people to migrate from poorer areas to richer areas with better employment opportunities. So in this sense, the economy works as a pull factor for migration both within nation-states, within subregions and globally. But the economy can of course also be a push factor for migration – for instance, when people escape the hardships of a country in economic collapse.

Sometimes push factors are stronger than pull factors, due to conflict, disasters, authoritarianism or a failing economy. In most cases, these push factors cause people to flee to the nearest safe location and most displaced people worldwide remain in the immediate subregion of their home.

Class determines who migrates and why

For Marie and Emmanuel, like most Burundians, and Africans in general, entering Europe is not an easy task. Few can cover the high travel costs and meet the strict visa requirements. Prospective migrants need to convince immigration authorities that they have the means to take care of themselves and their families or that they have homes and jobs to return to in their home countries. These requirements favour the well-off and exclude those who are most in need of the economic and social opportunities that migration offers.

Class not only determines who can cross certain borders; it also impacts individuals’ interest and willingness to move. While people of lower socioeconomic standing may migrate to Europe to seek better livelihood opportunities, people of higher socioeconomic status generally face skill devaluation and labour market exclusion when migrating to Europe, as ethnic minorities in the European Union (EU) External link, opens in new window. are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed or underpaid. Even when migrants, such as Emmanuel in the example above, upgrade their skills (for example, by getting an additional university degree in their new home country), labour market integration remains difficult, indicating that barriers stem from ethnicity, not lack of skills.

Devaluation of skills is structural – not coincidental

There is evidence that this exclusion is been based on institutional racism embedded in labour market systems. For example, legal scholar Diamond Ashiagbor has shown that racial inequalities are built into the very structures of European labour markets, shaped by histories of colonialism and racial capitalism. Her research External link, opens in new window. demonstrates how seemingly neutral employment laws and practices systematically devalue the skills of racialised and migrant workers. This structural bias channels many African migrants into precarious or low-paid work, regardless of their qualifications.

Similarly, sociologists Heath and Cheung (2006) External link, opens in new window. have studied how skin tone, more than education or experience, influences labour market outcomes among African and Caribbean immigrants in the United Kingdom. Using survey and administrative data, they statistically compare employment rates, occupational levels and income across skin-tone groups, controlling for qualifications. Their results show that darker-skinned migrants are less likely to access high-status jobs even when they hold similar credentials to lighter-skinned peers. This provides robust evidence that racial stratification, not lack of merit, is a key barrier to meaningful labour market inclusion for many Africans.

Marie, Emmanuel and many of the other interlocutors I interviewed in my research were already aware of this kind of discrimination before coming to Europe. Awareness of the discrimination and fall in status people will face, in fact, makes people hesitate about or decide against moving to Europe. My interlocutors would generally not have migrated to Europe had they felt secure in Burundi.

Migration is (almost) never a journey from A to B

People’s migration trajectories are often very complicated. In my research, I interviewed 19 Burundians in Belgium and Sweden. When I asked them about how they ended up where they were, there were no simple replies. Some started in countries neighbouring Burundi but moved on for a variety of reasons. Their testimonies echo what geographer Joris Schapendonk has shown in his research: migration is rarely a straightforward journey from point A to point B. Drawing on years of research on African migrants moving between Africa and Europe, Schapendonk (2021) External link, opens in new window. shows that migration is often non-linear and stepwise, shaped by pauses, detours and new directions. These movements are influenced not only by personal networks and changing opportunities but also by the broader “migration industry” – the brokers, infrastructures and institutions that affect how and where people move.

People who are fleeing a war or a disaster may find a neighbouring country and settle with the intention of staying there during their exile – an intention which may later change for several reasons. The same, of course, goes for those who arrive in Europe; they may not originally have planned to travel to a European destination.

As mentioned previously, most migrants want to stay close to home, to more easily maintain connections to family members and stay involved in businesses or politics at home. The wish to stay close to home is also connected to the idea that conditions in a neighbouring country are more similar to home in terms of climate, culture and language, for example, making integration easier. Finally, depending on the home country, there may be close social ties to a neighbouring country due to previous migration waves.

At the same time, for some people fleeing conflict, crossing one border is not enough to ensure safety. With agents from their home countries possibly operating in neighbouring countries, exile can remain dangerous. In such cases, moving further away, sometimes to Europe, can become a necessary strategy for protection.

Arriving in Europe does not always mean the end of migration. This is particularly true for Africans and other migrants with higher levels of education and/or higher socioeconomic status who generally do not find employment that matches their qualifications. The difficulty of getting meaningful or rewarding work, combined with economic insecurity and experiences of racism, both personally and directed towards their children, often lead some to reconsider staying in Europe. For many, returning or moving closer to their home country offers hope of a renewed sense of opportunity and dignity.

Citizenship as an exit strategy

Applying for citizenship in a European country does not necessarily signal a wish to stay in Europe indefinitely. Paradoxically, European citizenship can give African migrants a closer bond to their home country: just as citizenship opens doors to greater security and more opportunities in Europe, it can also make it safer and easier to travel back home to their country of origin to visit friends and family, while at the same time guaranteeing the right to return to Europe. A European passport can also provide protection against being arrested or persecuted in the country of origin, and make it easier to travel to other countries in Africa; for example, to seek new employment opportunities.

Longing for a transnational lifestyle

My interviews with displaced Burundians in Belgium and Sweden indicate that many people dream of having a transnational lifestyle. People with children, in particular, want to continue to have a presence in Europe, where their children are often well integrated, having learnt the local language, and adapted to the school system and culture. Given that parents have often sacrificed their class standing by moving to Europe, they often dream of returning to Africa. Their hope is that their home country, a neighbouring country or indeed any country on the continent may offer better opportunities to fulfil their long-term career and life ambitions.

The dream of living a transnational lifestyle between Europe and Africa is not without its challenges. A transnational lifestyle requires legal security in both places, and the legal and financial possibilities of moving freely between destinations. As mentioned above, acquiring citizenship is an important step in this regard.

African governments, and the African Union (AU) tend to view migration as a source of strength, highlighting migrants’ contributions through remittances and skills. European policymakers, by contrast, have yet to recognise the potential benefits of African migration to their countries. Reframing is needed to see migrants not as a challenge, but as partners in achieving shared development goals.
European policymakers must address racism and labour market discrimination to attract rather than repel skilled African professionals. Stronger collaboration with the AU and African governments can help enable transnational lifestyles and career mobilities that benefit individuals, and European and African countries alike.

Policy recommendations

• Recognise and use migrants’ skills. The EU and European governments should strengthen anti-discrimination enforcement, review hiring and credential recognition systems, and ensure that equality measures extend to both public and private sectors. A recent OECD report External link, opens in new window. on discrimination gives recommendations on how this could be done by empowering equality bodies, improving data collection and ensuring consistent legal protection against all forms of discrimination. It also urges policymakers to embed equality goals across policy areas, promote inclusive social norms and guarantee effective remedies for victims. Additionally, a recent evaluation of the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan External link, opens in new window. emphasises the need for better coordination between EU and national programmes, with dedicated funding and capacity-building to support labour market integration for migrants.
• Reframe migration as mutual development and promote transnational lifestyles. The AU’s migration frameworks and many national strategies already emphasise circular migration and skill mobility. The EU and European governments, whose migration policies tend to see migration as a zero-sum game, could take inspiration from that and build partnerships that promote transnational labour mobility between Europe and Africa, and generate benefits for both continents. An International Labour Organization evaluation from 2023 External link, opens in new window. of a German-led initiative to promote skills-based labour migration between North Africa and Europe – the THAMM Plus programme – emphasised data coordination and cross-border stakeholder cooperation as essential levers to improve mobility and labour market integration for African migrants in Europe.