TRANSMIT 3 - Transnational Perspectives on Migration and Integration

The TRANSMIT project aims to advance our understanding of migration dynamics in their regional and geopolitical contexts. It focuses on the conditions shaping migration in countries of origin and transit – that is, the factors influencing migration before migrants arrive in Germany. More specifically, the project examines migrants' motivations and experiences, as well as the political and institutional frameworks that shape migration aspirations, decision-making, trajectories, and lived experiences.

Regionally, TRANSMIT focuses on migration from West Africa and the Middle East, thereby covering two regions of particular relevance to Germany and Europe. The TRANSMIT team employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research.

Since its launch in 2020, TRANSMIT has entered its third funding phase in 2025. During Phase III, the project concentrates on five core research areas:

1. Determinants of migration aspirations
2. Gender dimensions of migration
3. The role of work and labour markets
4. Health and migration
5. The impacts of climate change

Research at IMIS

At IMIS, research focuses on West Africa. Since the beginning of the project in 2020, we have been collecting qualitative data in The Gambia, Senegal, Morocco, and Germany. This longitudinal perspective enables us to investigate both fundamental questions and changing migration dynamics over time.

Our research at IMIS addresses the following topics:

• Migration aspirations
• The role of income and employment in West African migration processes
• The effects of European externalisation policies along the entire migration route
• Gender as a factor shaping access to migration
• Migrant self-organisation
• Deportation, return policies, and return experiences

Data Infrastructure

Since 2020, TRANSMIT has been building its own research data infrastructure. Our datasets complement one another both geographically (covering both migration corridors) and methodologically (combining qualitative and quantitative approaches). They also include several longitudinal datasets (panel studies). Selected datasets are available for secondary use by other researchers.

Available datasets include:

• Qualitative panel study on migration perceptions and practices among prospective migrants and returnees ( available through Qualiservice)
• TRANSMIT survey datasets available as Scientific Use Files (SUFs) ( available through the DeZIM.fdz)

Further Information on the project

• TRANSMIT website at the DeZIM Institute  here
• Further information on TRANSMIT Phases I–II  here
• Project report: Project Group TRANSMIT (2025). Transnational Perspectives on Migration and Integration: Data Infrastructure and Findings of the TRANSMIT Project 2020–2024. DeZIM Project Report 15.  https://www.dezim-institut.de/publikationen/transnational-perspectives-on-migration-and-integration/

TRANSMIT Consortium partners within the DeZIM Research Community

• Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research ( BIM)
• German Center for Integration and Migration Research ( DeZIM Institute)
• Institute for Employment Research ( IAB)
•  WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Selected Publications by IMIS Project Researchers

Altrogge, J. (2026): Gambian Migration to Germany and the EU. A statistical brief. Center for Research and Policy Development (CRPD) The Gambia and IMIS.  https://crpgm.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Altrogge_2026_Statistical_Brief_and_PhD_info.pdf 

Altrogge, J. (2025): Halting Deportation Through Protest at Home: The Political Remittances of Transnational Gambian Anti-Deportation Activism, in: Global Networks 25(3) (online first).  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/glob.70018 

Altrogge, J., Safouane, H., & Stier, J. (2025): Temporalities and change in Senegalese and Gambian self-organisation in Germany: Accelerated immigration, demographic dynamics, and political opportunities. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1–22.   https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2025.2500642 

Jung, P. (2025): Perceptions and practices of migration and return in the Casamance, Senegal. Study report. 32 S.  https://doi.org/10.26092/elib/3721

Stier, J., & Altrogge, J. (2024). Scheitern, Stigma, Schulden. WZB-Mitteilungen, 184, 44–47, June 2024

Altrogge, J., Jaw, S. M., & Gassama, F. (2024). Gender Norms and the ‘Backway’. IMIS Working Paper No. 20. University of Osnabrueck.  https://osnadocs.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/ds-2024112911835 

Altrogge, J., & Stier, J. (2023). Migration und Migrationspolitik in Westafrika. Regionalprofil Westafrika [Bpb-Dossier „Migration weltweit“]. Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, October 2023.  https://www.bpb.de/themen/migration-integration/regionalprofile/541954/migration-und-migrationspolitik-in-westafrika/

Altrogge, J. (2023): Income prospect trajectories after state-induced return from Germany to the Gambia: Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration as ‘slow deportation’, in: Sozialpolitik.ch Vol. 2/2023 – Article 2.4.  https://www.sozialpolitik.ch/article/view/4477 

Jung, P (2023): Multinational Migration in the Global South: Complex and nonlinear mobility patterns of Senegalese migrants in Brazil. In: J. Ahrens & R. King (Hg.), Onward Migration and Multi-sited Transnationalism: Complex Trajectories, Practices and Ties. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer International Publishing: 159–178.  https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-12503-4_8 

Zanker, F., Altrogge, J. (2022): Protective Exclusion as a Postcolonial Strategy: Rethinking Deportations and Sovereignty in The Gambia, in: Security Dialogue 53(5).  https://academic.oup.com/sd/article/53/5/475/8369461