Most of \nhuman history is characterised by migrations and settlements;movements \nof people from one location to anotherhaving always been a regular \nfeature of the human social system from time immemorial. Overwhelming \nexperiences, conditions and challenges occasion migrations and \nrelocation of peoples and populations from time to time. \nMigrationsgenerally are necessitated by several considerations, some of \nwhich are conflicts and wars, natural factors, accidents and \nhumanengineered conditionsand artificialelements.Motivations to migrate \nare usually pre-emptive, voluntary or compelled. Hunger and the search \nfor food; insecurity and the need for safety; fears of the unknown and \nthe need for protection; threats to sustenance and people\u2019s well-being; \nnatural disasters like famine, drought, erosion and earthquakes and \nvolcanoes, conflicts, conflicts and wars; quest for comfort and \nhappiness; the search for better living conditions and the urge for \nself-actualisation and fulfilment are some of the major reasonsthat spur\n migrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Migrations are often connected with tensions,\n unsteady and combative relations and sometimes the re-alignment of \ncommunities, the creation of new ones. Thus,migrations tend to raise \nissues of border tensions and conflicts. Thoughcross border frictions \narenot exclusive toexperiences of migration, such tensions also exist in\n all forms of societies, even apparently homogenous communities, as they\n develop and become complex. The notion of cross border as projected in \nthis cluster is considered in the literal, symbolic and contextual \nsenses to include, physical boundaries, social, economic, cultural, \ngeo-political, mental and imagined boundaries, linguistic and \npsychological borders, among others. The notion of borders and \nboundaries are considered significant signposts of global human \nrelations, especially as it relates to Africans and people of African \nheritage. Beyond this, the phenomenon of borders and cross border \nrelations are also linked to the nature of relations between nations, \ncountries and peoples; between religions, ethnicities, cultures, \nlanguages, peoples; and so on. This cluster specially emphasises how all\n these converge and relate to cross border relations especially between \nAfrica, her peoples and the rest of the world; and along ethnic and \nracial divides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, African countries and citizens \nhave witnessed a major wave of migrations from their homelands to other \nparts of the world, especially the developed countries of Europe and \nAmerica. But this modern wave of migration is just one of such mass \nmovements in the history of Africa. Experiences of the occurrences of \nmass migration of African populations are certainly not a new phenomenon\n in the continent and her peoples. Ignominious instances of such heavy \nwaves of mass movements of Africans in history arethe slave trades \nacross the Sahara desert to the Arab world and across the Atlantic Ocean\n to Europe and the Americas.These well-known and devastating forms of \nmass human movements were however not orchestrated by direct \nconsequences of any of these identified factors. Rather this is the \nresult of human greed and wickedness. It came in the form of forced \ncommoditisation and exportation of Africansfrom their homes to other \nparts of the world; an enterprise that lasted hundreds of years and \nwitnessed the dislocation and disorientation of African peoples and \nreconfiguration of global pattern of human settlements and \ngeography\/demography. This situation largely created the first form of \nthe African diaspora \u2013 a forced dislocation and dislodgement of Africans\n to other societies as economic stocks. It also resulted in the creation\n of dislocated communities and settlements of diaspora Africans in many \nparts of the world. Also important is the modern experiences of African \nmigrations thatin recent times voluntarily or willingly self-relocated \nand settled in other parts of the world have created huge African \ncommunities of exiles, migrants, residents in their new abodes. The \nissue in question is howthey are integrating or being integrated and \ncoping in their new homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Research Cluster on \nMigration and Cross Border Relations would investigate migration in all \nits senses and ramifications, connections; and its interconnections with\n borders and cross-border interactions. In the same manner, it also \ninterrogates the notion of cross border as an umbrella phenomenon which \nencompasses all issues around it, independently and in connection with \nother related ones. In essence, the cluster studies the different \nmovements by Africans both within and outside the continent including \ncross border relations with a view to interrogating the moves, routes, \nmotivations and consequences of such movements over the years and how \nthey affected the lives of Africans and those in the diaspora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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