The haitian migrations in French Guiana: new dynamics

Abstract

French Guiana, a traditional receptacle of Haitian, Surinamese and Brazilian migrations in North South America, has since 2015 witnessed a significant increase in Haitian immigration, as well as new African and Syrian migrations. If in the past these migrations arrived in Suriname, the gateway of the Caribbean migrations due to their interface between the Amazonian and Caribbean worlds, they now also transit through Brazil, a country that has recently become a new destination for Haitian emigration. The new Haitian migrants are now, in addition to this new path, trying to find a new way of staying in French-Guyanese territory, for the application for political asylum. The aim of this article is to analyze, on the basis of statistical data sources, recent research, leading articles and field studies, these new dynamics of Haitian migrations in French Guiana. Within a context of changing traditional migration flows, we will try to explain the new strategies of the Haitian migrants for arriving and staying in French Guiana, using both the new interface made up of Brazil and the flaws of the French legislation regarding the migratory statutes.