ABSTRACT
In this case, negative perceptions of Europe directly affected the respondent’s desire to migrate. However, negative ideas and perceptions can also undermine migration aspirations more indirectly, when negative ideas about migration affect non-migrants’ feelings of relative deprivation when they compare their personal situation with that of their migrant peers. Here, it is the effect of information on relative deprivation that, as explained in the previous section, indirectly shapes migration aspirations. In addition, people’s migration aspirations appear to be closely linked to their concrete oppor-
tunities in their country of origin and abroad. In other words, their capacity to migrate also affects their aspiration to migrate (Appadurai 2004). What is more, people might not have the aspiration to migrate but would leave if they had the opportunity. This was the case of a 38-year-old woman in Tounfite (Eastern High Atlas), who migrated to Spain and admitted that ‘honestly, I never thought about migrating to Spain to work, I wanted to stay in Morocco despite the hard living conditions – until I had the opportunity to leave’. However, migration to Europe remains attractive for many because of European living standards.
Despite the changed European context, interviews reveal that sizeable sections of the population still perceived opportunities in migration. This was particularly the case for those who saw migration as a way of improving their precarious living conditions, as well as those who still considered having the capacity to migrate, such as students and those with close family members abroad. The EUMAGINE survey shows that while a large majority of respondents aspire to migrate in
the Central Plateau (over 70%) and in the Todgha Valley (68%), migration aspirations were lower in Tangier (close to 48%) and in the Eastern High Atlas (53%). In Tangier, people perceived more local opportunities and had less positive views of life in Europe than in the other regions – thus, fewer people aspired to migrate even if they were given the necessary papers. However, we would have expected a higher proportion of those with migration aspirations in the Eastern High Atlas due to the harder living conditions there and the more positive perceptions of migration towards Europe. Similarly, we would have expected lower proportions of people with migration aspirations in the Todgha Valley than in the Eastern High Atlas because in the former, negative perceptions of migration in the changed European context were much stronger than in the latter. The surprising results indicate that the emigration context only partially explains migration aspirations. Furthermore, besides positive or negative effects, feedback mechanisms can have self-correct-
ing effects on migration. For instance, migration aspirations can be postponed or can reappear when the migration context changes and the capacity to migrate increases. The narrative of a 22-year-old woman in the Eastern High Atlas illustrates this. She stopped thinking about emigration due to the lack of opportunities in the uncertain European context, but she would still like to emigrate in the future if a good opportunity arose: ‘I haven’t stopped for good [thinking about emigration] despite the new conditions in Europe, if I find a good chance to migrate with a good salary and a convenient work, I will leave without hesitating.’
