E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.2 page 6 6. Burkina Faso emigration to western countries is a much more recent phenomenon, with 3,000 Burkina Faso emigrants living in Italy and about the same numbers in France and Belgium.1 2. Migration to western countries 7. Burkina Faso is a country of very intensive migratory movements, especially to bordering countries, mainly Côte d’Ivoire. Migration northward and to western countries is an increasingly frequent phenomenon, however, not only for Burkina Faso nationals but also for those of other countries in the region, who cross Burkina Faso on their way northwards. Burkina Faso is therefore a country of origin and transit for northward-bound migration. 8. Intercontinental migration has become considerably diversified since the mid-1980s. Migrants going to Europe used to head mainly for France and the United Kingdom, as well as Germany. More recently, West African immigration has considerably increased in Scandinavian countries and the countries of Southern Europe. The latter, especially Spain, Italy and Portugal, are often used as springboards for the traditional host countries of Northern Europe. The United States has also become an increasingly popular destination. 9. The migrants’ choice of destination is no longer determined solely by language, cultural or commercial considerations (depending on historic factors, socio-economic opportunities, etc.). Nowadays this choice depends much more on legal aspects, such as the migration policies and legislations of host countries concerning the free movement of persons.2 B. Burkina Faso as a country of transit and destination 10. Historically speaking Burkina Faso is a country of migration. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, that it is increasingly becoming a country of transit and, to a lesser extent, of destination for migratory flows. This means there is a definite need for national and regional policies to regulate such flows, which have not yet been introduced for lack of any real debate on the subject. 11. The routes followed by migrants across national frontiers tend to vary. Many of them proceed in stages. The migrants who use Burkina Faso as a transit country generally come from Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, or English-speaking Africa and are heading for Europe, either via Mali and then Algeria, or passing through Niger to continue on towards the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. 1. Irregular migration in Burkina Faso 12. In recent years irregular migration has become a real problem, as the security personnel in charge do not have sufficient means to control it. 13. The problem of migrants returning from the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya illustrates the difficulties experienced by Burkina Faso in trying to manage migratory flows in the region, as well as the urgent need to develop an appropriate regional migration policy.