The chapters gathered in this volume undertake to examine the conditions and impact of the closure of borders on African soil. All of the chapters have a marked empirical grounding in detailed studies of a range of geographical areas (Senegal, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, South Africa, Niger, Togo, Gambia and Ghana). The common purpose of these studies is to provide contextualized descriptions of contemporary African migrations, but also to reconstruct the different understandings of the phenomenon among actors concerned at some level with migration, starting with the migrants themselves.