Migration

Lebanon: Public Opinion Report 2024

The citizens of Lebanon are suffering. Most citizens say they struggle to cover their monthly expenses, there has been a sharp increase in food insecurity, and all citizens, regardless of income, suffer near daily electricity outages. Lebanese citizens lay the blame for the pervasive socio-economic ills at the feet of their government. No one has confidence in the government’s ability…

Migration Attitudes in the Middle East and North Africa (2023-2024)

Migration has been a major issue affected the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has for decades. Many citizens across the region have sought to leave their homelands in search of life in foreign countries. Arab Barometer has been monitoring attitudes toward migration in the region since 2006. The newest Wave VIII surveys between 2023 and 2024 reveal that…

Jordan: Public Opinion Report 2024

Arab Barometer’s Wave VIII survey captures public opinion in Jordan at a critical time. As the COVID-era restrictions and changes receded, many of the challenges Jordan had been facing over the previous decade returned to the fore. From the early 2010s until Arab Barometer’s 2022 survey, there had been consistent declines in views of government and economic challenges continued to…

Palestine 2023: Palestinian Perception of Migration

On the eve of October 7, about a third of Gazans and about a fifth of West Bankers said they were considering emigrating from Palestine. The main drivers seem economic, political, educational, security and concerns about corruption. The most preferred destination for immigration is Turkey, followed by Germany, Canada, the United States and Qatar. The vast majority of Palestinians reported…

Tunisia: Public Opinion Report 2023

In the 2019 presidential elections, many Tunisians turned to Kaïs Saïed as a solution. Saïed ran a populist campaign as a political outsider, calling for ending corruption and reforms to the electoral system. In the final round of voting, he captured nearly three-quarters of the vote for an overwhelming victory and strong electoral mandate. In July 2021, Saïed dismissed the…

Fighting racism in Tunisia 1 bag of groceries at a time

Ordinary Tunisians are volunteering to help sub-Saharan African residents who are being persecuted. They say the issues behind the current crisis — racism and migration — should have been tackled long ago. In a cobbled lane in the Tunisian capital, canvas has been fixed to the white walls of a nearby garden to form shelters. Here and there, you also…

Morocco Country Report 2021-2022

Since the pandemic hit Morocco in March 2020, the country has been facing crises on multiple fronts, including the public health crisis, the economic crisis, inflation, and the historic drought. Internationally, Morocco made several diplomatic gains in the wake of the United States’ recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. In an historic reversal of its previous stance, Spain declared…

Tunisians Emigrate in Record Numbers as Hopes Fade for Its Economy, Democracy

They once believed that the Arab Spring would yield stability, but Tunisians are now fleeing their home country in droves TUNIS, Tunisia—Record numbers of Tunisians are leaving the country after a decade of economic turmoil and the government’s turn toward authoritarianism, dimming hopes that a younger generation can build a future in the nation that sparked the Arab Spring. The flood of Tunisian émigrés…

Jordan has a plan to retain nation’s youth – can they sell it?

All Anas Atef wants is to open a restaurant and live next door to his parents. His family has other plans for the 22-year-old college student: leave the country. “The last thing I want to do is leave my family and community behind, although they are all telling me to leave,” Mr. Atef says. “I’m defying them and staying. But…