Arab Youth Migration to European Union

Abstract

Migration from Arab countries to European countries started many decades ago. It has been driven by a variety of push–pull factors. The two main factors are economic deterioration and political instability. Many young people migrated to escape unemployment, poverty and poor
working conditions. Others fled the effects of war and conflicts. This paper reviews Arab youth migration to European countries, its drivers, and the way it impacts the origin countries, host countries and the immigrants. Despite some negative implications of migration on the origin countries such as education cost and deprivation of the country from the potential capacity of skilled people, the benefits of these countries are rather clear and include remittances, knowledge and experience transfer. However, mitigation of Arab youth migration challenges is not an easy task; it needs new governmental approaches to reduce unemployment rates, as well as the active involvement of youth in economic and political life.