INTRODUCTION

Angola, a resource-rich country in southern Africa, has a complex and evolving relationship with migration, shaped by historical events, economic trends, and political factors. Following years of colonial rule and a lengthy civil war, Angola has faced significant challenges in its post-war reconstruction and economic diversification. These efforts have led to notable population shifts, both internally and through interactions with neighboring countries. Angola's rich natural resources, particularly oil and diamonds, have historically attracted international labor and investment, creating waves of both legal and irregular migration. This influx, coupled with Angola’s limited infrastructure to manage large-scale migration, has led to challenges in controlling borders and providing adequate services to migrant communities. In recent years, Angola has seen increasing migration pressures from neighboring countries, particularly as economic conditions worsen in other parts of the region. The Angolan government has worked to address these migration issues through policy changes, border control enhancements, and collaborations with international organizations. However, challenges remain, especially regarding the integration of migrants and addressing humanitarian concerns linked to irregular migration. Today, Angola’s approach to migration reflects a balance between attracting skilled labor to support its economy and mitigating the social, economic, and security implications of uncontrolled migration flows.

 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The history of Angola is skewered by the legacy of a protracted civil war and an economy disproportionately dependent on oil. The civil war took place from 1975 to 2002, but Angola has maintained some level of political stability since the end of the 27-year-long civil war that saw more than half a million fleeing from the country. In addition to being a country of origin, destination, and transit for migrants, Angola has seen the return of more than 360,000 Angolans who fled the country during the civil war and four million internally displaced persons who have returned to their communities (UNHCR, 2005). The war lasted for 27 years partly because of the presence of oil and diamond in Angola and the access to these resources by the two contesting rebel movements, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which financed the war (Frynas, G. & Wood, G, 2001). After the war, oil production in Angola continues to play a very central role in rebuilding the country.

USSR  Ambassador to Luand V.P. Loginov, Chief Military Advisor to Angola Colonel General K.Ya Kurochikin, Angolan Defense Minister Colonel Pedro Maria "Pedale" Tona, Head of the Cuban Military Mission to Angola Division General Leopoldo "Polo" Cintra Frías, 1983. Source: Wikimedia Commons / Mil Ru.

According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) (2022), Angola is the second-largest oil-producing country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the country produces approximately 1.16 million barrels of oil per day (US Department of Commerce, 2022). The oil sector accounts for one-third of GDP and more than 90% of exports (Ibid). The historical oil price decline that saw a 70% price drop between mid-2014 and early 2016 (World Bank, 2018), coupled with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019, has had a devastating effect on the economy of Angola as the economy sank into a recession from 2016 – 2021 (African Development Bank, 2021). However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, created massive oil shortages around the world that hiked oil prices – benefiting Angola as the price increases spurred GDP growth in the country (African Development Bank Group, 2022). Notwithstanding the economic gains, multidimensional poverty (see the section on internal migration), is one of the key drivers of migration and is still a measure of concern in Angola, as more than 50% of the youth are unemployed (The World Bank, 2023a). The history of migration in Angola is intricately linked to its natural resources as the presence of natural resources has been a curse (prolonging the civil war and causing massive displacement) and a blessing (helping in the reconstruction of the country) to the country.

 MIGRATION POLICIES

Migration into Angola is government by legislation, of which the three salient are the Law No. 13/19 of May 23, the Presidential Decree 100/20, and the Law 10/15. The Law No 13/19 of May 23 is the most important piece of legislation governing immigration and emigration in Angola is Law No 13/19 of May 23, which regulates the legal regime of exit, entry, and residence of foreign citizens in Angola (Republic of Angola, 2019).  Concerning human trafficking, Presidential Decree 100/20 established the Mid-term National Strategy for Human Rights (2020-2025) - outlining several measures, including the elaboration of the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and the creation of referral mechanisms to assist victims (Presidential Decree 31/20), and Law 1/20 creating a database on trafficking and the approval of victim protection law (IOM, 2021). 

Timeline of Migration Policies in Angola. Source: SIHMA

The government of Angola initiated a new refugee and asylum law in 2015: Law 10/15 obliges the state to provide reception centres, in which new asylum seekers will be obliged to stay during the entire asylum process (UNHCR, 2019). So far, this norm has not been implemented, many refugees lack documents and find it difficult to access their rights. Angola is a signatory to several migration-related international conventions. For example, Angola signed and ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol, the 1969 AU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees Problems in Africa. Angola has also ratified the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, viz the Kampala Convention. The SADC Protocol on Facilitation of Free Movement, 2005, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. Angola is a signatory to the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

 GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS

The country’s immigration policy enacted by the Migration and Foreigners Services (SME) is under the Ministry of Interior. The SME is tasked with promoting, coordinating, and implementing measures related to the transit, entry, stay, residence, and exit of migrants, along with border surveillance. The SME also led the processes that birthed the Angolan Migration Policy (AMP) which focuses on the management of migration flows; the study of migration trends; the integration of migrants and reintegration of nationals; the collection, analysis, and publication of migration data; the analysis of the effect of climate change on migration policies; the promotion of tourism; the engagement of the diaspora; the return of qualified nationals; and the prevention of transnational crime (IOM, 2021). 

Angola's Government Structure. Source: SIHMA

• Migration and Foreigners Services (SME) website here
• Ministry of Internal Affairs website here
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs website here

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX) assists Angolan communities abroad and supports the reintegration of Angolan nationals returning home (Ibid). In line with the new refugee law (Law 10/15), in 2018, the National Council for Refugees (CNR) was created, replacing the Committee for Recognition of the Right of Asylum (COREDA) (UNHCR, 2019). CNR is responsible for Refugee Status Determination (RSD) in Angola. 

 INTERNAL MIGRATION

Common trends of internal migration in Angola are mostly rural-urban migration, which is driven by inadequate infrastructural development, unemployment, and inadequate provision of basic social services in rural areas. Poverty is a main concern in Angola, with 55.3% of Angolans experiencing multidimensional poverty (monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services) (UNDP, 2023). The incidence of multidimensional poverty in rural areas (88% - that is, 9 in 10 people are multidimensionally poor) is far higher than the incidence in urban areas (35% - that is, 1 in 3 people are multidimensionally poor) (Ibid). According to the World Bank (2023), youth unemployment in the country exceeds 50%. People are, therefore, leaving the rural areas for urban areas such as Luanda in search of opportunities (Tvedten, 2018).

According to UN-Habitat (2023), the urban population rate in 2018 stood at 65.5%, while the urban growth rate between 2015-2020 stood at 4.32%. With the skewed infrastructural development projects that concentrate mostly in the urban areas, rural-urban migration precipitated by the search for economic and social opportunities will continue to take place in Angola at a very high rate. 

 INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, CONFLICT AND DISASTERS

Internal displacement in Angola has changed. Before the declaration of independence until the end of the civil war, the main driver for displacement was conflict. Thirteen million people were displaced during this time in Angola’s history. Currently, natural disasters have become the main triggers for internal displacement. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) (2023), in 2022, there were 1800 disaster-related displacements in Angola caused by floods and storms. According to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO) (2023), Angola has recorded casualties and displacements because of heavy rains that have affected several provinces (Luanda, Namibe, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Cuanza Norte and Moxico) in the country.

2,388,703 Internally Displaced Persons in Angola (2023)

As of 24 April, media reports indicate that more than 4,380 homes were damaged, and approximately 44,000 people were affected – some displaced (ECHO, 2023). Also, on April 19 and 20, the government reported 708 displacements in the province of Bengo caused by heavy rain (IDMC, 2023). On October 24 and 26, the government reported that 682 people experienced flood-related displacements in Calandula and 150 people were displaced in Menongue because of a storm (Angop, 2023 & Journal de Angola, 2023). 

 IMMIGRATION

Angola’s oil and diamond wealth has been a force of attraction to international migrants, both skilled and unskilled, to the country. Angola is one of the three countries, including South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hosting the highest number of international migrants in the sub-region (Southern Africa). By mid-2020, Angola hosted 656,434 international migrants (Migration Data Portal, 2021). Economic migrants, i.e., those arriving for business, come by air, but a large mass of migrants come by land from the DRC. They use boats, and walk long hours, across forests and rivers. The top five countries of origin of international migrants in Angola are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Cabo Verde, Sao Tome, and Principe (UN DESA, 2019).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo constitutes more than 75% of all international migrants by country of origin in Angola (Ibid). Some of the challenges that international migrants face are difficulties in having proper documentation that restrains migrants from being able to enrol their children in schools, open bank accounts, have a more profitable business, and have access to public services, especially health care.    

 FEMALE MIGRATION

The share of the international female migration stock has experienced a steady increase in the past two decades in Angola. For example, according to the UN DESA, as cited by the Migration Data Portal (2021), in 2000, they were an estimated 22,700 female international migrants in Angola - by 2010, it increased to 174,400, and by 2020, it stood at 325,000 – representing 49.5% of the total international migration stock. Some female migrants in Angola have been subject to repeated attacks, stigmatization, and abuse of their human rights. For example, in 2014, within ten days, 3000 people were rounded up in Luanda - including women and children and kept under deplorable conditions and some were forcefully deported (International Federation for Human Rights, 2014). Recently, during an expulsion operation of Congolese migrant workers, it is reported that the Angolan security forces raped women and children in the process (Human Rights Watch, 2023).    

MINORS

Angola is one of the ten top countries in the world with the highest number of child migrants (18 years and below), and as of 2017, the country hosted 302,000 migrant children (Gadisa, et al., 2020). According to the UN DESA, as cited by the Migration Data Portal (2021), of the 656,400 international migrants in Angola, 21.4% (140,470) were children 19 years or younger. While there is a heavy presence of migrant children in Angola, there is a remarkable number of unaccompanied migrant children in the country. For example, according to a report from UNICEF, 200 unaccompanied children were fleeing from the war in Congo and arrived in reception camps in Angola (UNICEF, 2017).  Although the Angolan Children Act, in principle, provides that a child should not only be detained as a measure of last resort and such detention should follow international standards, in practice, during round-up operations, pregnant women and children are arrested and detained (See section on female migration) (Gadisa, et al., 2020). Child migrants in Angola are also subject to forced deportation. For example, in 2018, UNICEF reported that 80,000 children were among the Congolese migrants expelled by the government (Ibid). 

302,000 Migrant Minors in Angola (2017)

 REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

As a result of the protracted civil war in Angola (1975 – 2002), the country has been known as a refugee-origin country. However, after the war, Angola has been known as a refugee-receiving country. As of May 2023, there were 25,614 refugees and 30,279 asylum seekers in Angola (UNHCR, 2023). The highest number of refugees in Angola are people from the Democratic Republic of Congo. These 23,235 represent 41.6% of refugees in the country (Ibid). Other countries with double percentage points of refugees in the country include Guinea (9,272) - 16.6%, Ivory Coast (6,357) - 11.4%, and Mauritania (5,725) - 10.2% (Ibid). Refugees and asylum seekers are spread throughout provinces in Angola, with most of them in Luanda (38,300) and Lunda Norte (10,263) (Ibid). Other provinces hosting refugees include Moxico (3,135), Lunda Sul (1,315), Malanje (1,067), Bengo (869), Cuanza Sul (221), Cuanza Norte (174), Uige (151), Zaire (139), Bie (122), Cunene (98), Huambo (35), and Cabinda (4) (Ibid). The main reason for forced migration, for example, from the DRC to Angola, is the political instability in the country. Due to the porous borders that separate most African countries, like the border between Angola and the DRC, it becomes possible for some migrants to be smuggled or trafficked into Angola from the DRC by foot or by bus. While in Angola, refugees and asylum seekers are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention and, in some cases, expulsion (Human Rights Watch, 2023). The complexity of the flow of refugees in Angola is illustrated in the map below.

 EMIGRATION

According to the European Union Global Diaspora Facility (2020), about 661,590 Angolan nationals reside abroad. Most live in Africa. This represents 2.1% of the Angolan population. The top five countries of destination of Angolan emigrants are the Democratic Republic of Congo (179,065), Portugal (158,958), South Africa (69,659), Congo (42,506), and Namibia (39,580) (Ibid). The European Union hosts an estimated 217,428 Angolan emigrants representing 32.9% of the total emigrant population (Ibid).  

661.590 Angolan Emigrants (2020)

High population growth, high unemployment, and comparatively low salaries for professionals in Angola make the emigration of skilled professionals particularly attractive for young professionals in Angola. For example, even though Angola faces a significant shortage of physicians, with only 3,700 in the country with a doctor/patient rate of 0.94 doctors per 10,000 population (Japan International Cooperation Agency, 2021), an estimated 70% of all trained physicians in Angola emigrate (Kigotho, 2018). The 2021 Human Flight and Brain Drain in Africa index indicates that Angola is slightly above the 2021 world average of 5.21 index points. Angola is currently at (5.9) index points (The Global Economy, 2022). Such trends of trained medical professionals emigrating will leave the country with severe understaffing, overcrowded hospitals and a vast disparity in access to quality care. 

 LABOUR MIGRATION

After a long post-independent war, Angola has enjoyed political stability and peace for more than two decades. This attracts many labour migrants, particularly from neighbouring countries. They typically work in construction, mining, and set up private businesses which contribute significantly to the economy. However, because Angola is not a signatory to certain labour migration-related conventions, for example, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrants Workers and Members of their Families and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation and inhuman treatment (United Nations, 2016). According to Reuters (2023), mass deportation of labour migrants from Angola is something that happens every few years, with the largest in 2018, which saw the expulsion of 330,000 workers. During such processes of deportation, migrant workers experience human rights abuse, including rape (Africanews, 2023).

 HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Angola is a Tier 2 country and does not entirely meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking despite efforts to do so. The desire to make quick cash and poverty are some of the main drivers of human trafficking in Angola. Angola is a source, transit, and destination country for victims of human trafficking, especially women and children as young as 12 years, being subjected to forced labour or sex trafficking, and men being subjected to forced labour. The most high-threat areas of human trafficking in Angola include Luanda, Benguela, Cunene, Lunda Norte, Namibe, Uíge, and Zaire (US Department of State, 2023) Other victims of human trafficking come mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2021, the government identified 26 trafficking victims from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Namibia, while the government hotline identified 50 child trafficking victims. However, there might be a double counting as these figures might have been counted in the government report. In 2021 the government initiated 13 human trafficking investigations with 15 suspects and continued 6 investigations from 2020 (US Department of State, 2022). Although the government did not initiate any new prosecution in the past 2 consecutive years, it initiated 8 human trafficking investigations with 9 suspects and continued prosecution of 10 alleged traffickers from the previous year and obtained a conviction for 1 trafficker for forced labour (US Department of State, 2023).  

Identified victims were referred to religious, or NGO-run shelters for clothing, food, educational, and medical care. The government provides limited financial support to some of these shelters (Ibid). The government under the Ministry of Social Action, Family, and the Promotion of Women manages a national network of safe houses for women counselling centres and child centres accessible to victims of human trafficking, located in all 18 provinces (Ibid). The government also provides victims of human trafficking access to immigration relief, including temporary residence documents, the right to seek asylum, legal representation, immunity from trafficking crimes, medical and mental health services, some financial support, family tracing assistance, and access to education (Ibid). However, the immigration-related benefits are contingent upon the commencement of a criminal investigation and the victim’s testimony. 

 REMITTANCES, RETURNS AND RETURNEES

Remittance flow does not contribute significantly to the country’s revenue. The relief of this money is felt profoundly at the household level. It was only in 2008 that remittance flow contributed 0.1% to the country’s GDP. However, the flow contributes to reducing household poverty. For example, a study conducted by IOM (2010) revealed that remittance flow assists households in food, education, and health, with a small proportion of the money re-invested in business generation activities, business, or asset creation.  According to the World Bank (2023), remittance flow was at its all-time high in 2008 when it stood at $82,084,000, it dropped significantly to $162,359 in 2009 and went up to $17,972,037 in 2010, dropped significantly again to $204,751 in 2011 and went up significantly again to $40,348,854 in 2012 (Ibid),  From 2013 it experienced a steady decline from $36,637,411 in 2013, $30,971,119 in 2014, $11,114,712 in 2015, $3,988,048 in 2016, $1,418,196 in 2017. From 2018 it started to increase from $1,579,247 in 2018 to $3,445,473 in 2019, to $8,053,051 in 2020, to $12,631,149 in 2021, and $14,005,491 in 2022 (Ibid).  The graph shows the oscillating flow of remittances. With the prevalence of multidimensional poverty in Angola, remittance flow contributes enormously to so many households' income and fluctuations in such flows create financial instability for households that are dependent on it. 

With the end of the 27 years of protracted civil war that displaced an estimated more than four million people in Angola, many of those displaced volunteered to return to their communities. The end of the war with the Luena Memorandum on April 4, 2002, paved the way for peace and stability to reign in the country. According to UNHCR (2005), since the signing of the Luena Peace Accord (2002), some 360,000 refugees and four million internally displaced persons have returned to their communities with assistance and support from UNHCR. The returning refugees are mostly from Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Zambia. The UNHCR announcement in 2012 of the Angolan refugee cessation clauses meant that more Angolan refugees returned home. This has since seen nearly 23,000 Angolans from neighbouring countries (for example, DRC, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa), with the assistance of UNHCR, returned to their country, including an estimated 17,000 who have been repatriated to Angola’s Uige and Zaire provinces (UNHCR, 2012).