Inter-regional Migration in the Global South: Chinese Migrants in Ghana

Joseph Teye; Jixia Lu; Gordon Crawford

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_15

Inter-regional Migration in the Global South: Chinese Migrants in Ghana

Joseph Teye, Jixia Lu, Gordon Crawford

Research Centre for Peace and Security

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

While the migration of Chinese people to Africa dates back to the 1960s, it has increased significantly in the last two decades. Despite growing interest in such inter-regional migration flows, there is little understanding of the drivers and effects of such movements. Drawing on a combination of data generated through a quantitative survey and in-depth interviews, this chapter examines the drivers and impacts of Chinese migration to Ghana, a country which has been a significant destination for Chinese migrants for several decades. The findings indicate that the migration of Chinese people to Ghana has both positive and negative impacts. Positively, incomes and livelihoods of some Chinese migrants and Ghanaians who work for Chinese investors have improved. However, financial rewards have benefited some more than others, with increased income inequalities along gender and social class lines. Negative impacts include environmental degradation, violation of Ghana’s trade and mining laws, and exploitation of some Ghanaians by Chinese migrants. While Chinese migrants and their families left behind in China benefit through improved incomes and remittances, migration and associated financial flows contribute to a deepening of inequalities in migrants’ sending areas.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Palgrave Handbook of South–South Migration and Inequality
Editors	Heaven Crawley, Joseph Teye
Place of Publication	Basingstoke
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Pages	319-341
Number of pages	23
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031398148
ISBN (Print)	9783031398131
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_15
Publication status	Published - 28 Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Keywords

South–South migration
Migration flows
Labour migration
Inequality
Remittances
Trade
Mining
China
Ghana
Global South

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Social Sciences

Themes

Migration (In)Equality and Belonging

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_15Licence: CC BY

978-3-031-39814-8_15Final published version, 340 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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Inter-regional Migration in the Global South: Chinese Migrants in Ghana

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Themes

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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