Black Migrants and the Global Crisis of Anti-Blackness: Reflections at the Close of the International Decade for People of African Descent

By the time you read this, I’ll have drafted and discarded several versions of this blog. The recent election of Donald Trump as 47th president of the United States has deeply penetrated my thoughts, soul and being as a whole, resulting in a dread unlike any I’ve ever experienced. The success of the president-elect’s campaign rhetoric and proposed immigration policies signal heightened hostilities and an increase in detention, removals and deportations at unprecedented levels. These activities will likely be mirrored around the world as global politics shifts further to the right.

In 2020, the total global immigrant population stood at 280,598,105. Ten percent of global migrants or 28,284,538 people, originated from Sub-Saharan Africa. Migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean represented 15 percent of the global total, 42,890,481 people, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

As 2024 comes to a close, the state of migration for Africans and those of African descent who identify as, or are racialized as Black, is one of heightened exclusion, erasure, precarity, and violence. The close of 2024 also brings the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024), to an end. The International Decade for People of African Descent was intended “to celebrate the important contributions of people of African descent worldwide, advance social justice and inclusion policies, eradicate racism and intolerance, promote human rights and assist in creating better, more prosperous communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals spearheaded by the United Nations.”  

Despite its promise to amplify visibility and foster systemic interventions, the International Decade has underscored the limitations of global frameworks to address the enduring impacts of anti-Blackness. Escalating political and economic crises exacerbate migration, contributing to systemic failures which perpetuate the dehumanization of Black migrants in every region of the globe.

Throughout the Americas, the number of Caribbean and African migrants traveling to and through Mexico have increased significantly over the past decade. At the U.S.-Mexico border, Black migrants—especially Haitians—have faced explicit anti-Black policies and practices throughout their migratory journey. For example, under Title 42, the U.S. government has disregarded asylum claims and expelled thousands under the guise of public health measures.

In the Dominican Republic, mass deportations targeting Haitians have intensified, driven by entrenched anti-Blackness. Haitian migrants working in Dominican sugarcane plantations endure slave-like conditions, a stark reminder of the racialized exploitation embedded in labor systems throughout the Americas.

The perilous journey through the Darién Gap has become a focal point of the struggles Black migrants face. This dense and unforgiving jungle, spanning the border between Colombia and Panama, serves as a major route for migrants seeking to reach North America. Black migrants who navigate this treacherous geography as well as the region’s anti-Black policies and practices, face extreme risks such as robbery, violence, exploitation and even death.

In Northern Africa, the European Union’s externalization of border enforcement has created nightmarish conditions for Black migrants - many of whom are exploited, trafficked or confronted with violence. In Tunisia, EU funding and policies incentivize expulsions of Black migrants.  Recently, migrants traveling through Tunisia were bussed and abandoned in the desert, left without food or water, underscoring the deliberate neglect Black migrants face in their migration journeys.

Similarly, in Morocco and Algeria, Black migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa are met with anti-Black racism and hostility that is followed by detention, deportation and expulsion. In South Africa, Black migrants from the region and countries across Africa are often scapegoated for the country’s economic and social challenges, leading to criminalization, exclusion from social services, expulsion and violence. This scapegoating and systematic neglect of Black migrants are part of a broader trend of marginalization that intensifies during periods of political or social instability, leaving Black migrants particularly vulnerable during crises.

Conflicts amplify the vulnerabilities faced by Black migrants, who are often treated as afterthoughts in global responses. In Ukraine, Black African and Caribbean students fleeing the Russian invasion encountered stark disparities in their treatment. Black students were consistently denied access to evacuation routes and support that was made available to white refugees. Since the start of the Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, employers have abandoned African domestic workers, often without their identification documents, leaving workers to fend for themselves, further underscoring the systemic neglect of Black migrants. 

The exploitation of Black migrants extends beyond conflict zones and migration routes, deeply embedded in global labor systems. Black migrant workers are treated as expendable in a global economy built on racial hierarchies. In the Gulf states, where racial and anti-Black discrimination are institutionalized, African domestic workers along with migrants from Asia, report conditions of forced dependence where abuse, wage theft and forced confinement are the norm. Reported conditions and rights violations prompted the African Union to call for effective labor migration governance at the Inaugural Africa-Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, and Lebanon Dialogue on Labour Mobility in 2024. 

In Europe, migrant labor is similarly devalued. Reports from Albania and the United Kingdom describe agricultural workers subjected to conditions similar to slavery, with wages withheld and freedoms restricted. In the United States, Haitian farm workers report enduring long hours, low pay, and hazardous conditions, with limited recourse for abuses. Despite being labeled "essential" during the COVID-19 pandemic, Black migrant labor was excluded from meaningful protections, leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation and precarity. 

Further compounding the vulnerabilities Black migrants face, are the intersecting crises of gender-based violence and sexual violence which disproportionately impacts women, children, LGBTQ+ individuals and gender-expansive migrants. Along migration routes, in detention centers, and within exploitative labor systems, these individuals face heightened risks that reflect the systemic intersections of anti-Blackness and gender- and sexuality-based oppression. In detention camps across Libya, sexual assault is systematically used as a weapon of control and coercion.

In the Dominican Republic, two officials were involved in high-profile incidents of sexual violence and assault against a Haitian migrant woman and 14 year old girl, underscoring the systemic vulnerability of Black migrants to abuse and exploitation in the region. Reports from the Darién Gap and the U.S.-Mexico border document harrowing instances of women being sexually assaulted by smugglers, traffickers, and even fellow migrants, further illustrating the dangers Black migrants face while navigating treacherous migration pathways. 

These pervasive patterns of abuse are not isolated incidents but manifestations of deeply entrenched anti-Blackness—a global sentiment embedded in governance and policy that “devalue[s], minimize[s], and marginalize[s] the full participation of Black people.”  They reflect a global failure to protect Black migrants from the compounded vulnerabilities of anti-Black racism and other forms of systemic discrimination including sexism, classism, nativism, ethnocentrism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and beyond. 

In the years to come, Black migrants will face increasing challenges, particularly in nations where far-right movements shape governance.The recent U.S. presidential election signals a grim reality for migrants, as policies and rhetoric targeting Black immigrants and Black immigrant communities are poised to escalate their vulnerabilities. The appointment of leaders who champion mass deportation and anti-immigrant policies furthers the precarious future awaiting Black migrants.

Amid these challenges, centering the voices, expertise and experiences of Black migrants is not just necessary—it is imperative. The International Decade for People of African Descent was a promise unfulfilled. However, its conclusion should inspire a renewed commitment to address the intersecting oppressions confronting Black people and Black migrants globally. 

Honoring this commitment to Black migrants means acknowledging the failures of global governance and the pervasive nature of anti-Blackness. It is to demand accountability from systems that exploit and exclude, to amplify the expertise and analysis of those most impacted, and to reimagine migration as a site of possibility rather than suffering.

The work ahead requires us to confront the discomfort of these truths and to build spaces where Black migrants are seen, respected, valued, and supported. This is not just their fight—it is a collective struggle for justice, equity and humanity.

Photo Source: Fethi Belaid / AFP via Getty Images